explosive

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
explosive
    adj 1: serving to explode or characterized by explosion or
           sudden outburst; "an explosive device"; "explosive gas";
           "explosive force"; "explosive violence"; "an explosive
           temper" [ant: {nonexplosive}]
    2: liable to lead to sudden change or violence; "an explosive
       issue"; "a volatile situation with troops and rioters eager
       for a confrontation" [syn: {explosive}, {volatile}]
    3: sudden and loud; "an explosive laugh"
    n 1: a chemical substance that undergoes a rapid chemical change
         (with the production of gas) on being heated or struck
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Explosive \Ex*plo"sive\, a. [Cf. F. explosif.]
   Driving or bursting out with violence and noise; causing
   explosion; as, the explosive force of gunpowder.
   [1913 Webster]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Explosive \Ex*plo"sive\, n.
   1. An explosive agent; a compound or mixture susceptible of a
      rapid chemical reaction, as {gunpowder}, {TNT},
      {dynamite}, or {nitro-glycerine}.
      [1913 Webster +PJC]

   2. A sound produced by an explosive impulse of the breath;
      (Phonetics) one of consonants p, b, t, d, k, g, which are
      sounded with a sort of explosive power of voice.

   Note: [See Guide to Pronunciation, [root] 155-7, 184.]
         [1913 Webster]
    
from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
166 Moby Thesaurus words for "explosive":
      Ballistite, TNT, agitable, alarming, allophone, alveolar, anxious,
      apico-alveolar, apico-dental, articulation, aspiration,
      assimilation, bad, banging, bilabial, blasting, bursting,
      cacuminal, cellulose nitrate, cerebral, chancy, check, combustible,
      consonant, continuant, cordite, cracking, crashing, critical,
      dangerous, dangersome, delicate, dental, detonating, dicey,
      diphthong, dissimilation, dynamite, edgy, emotional,
      emotionally unstable, epenthetic vowel, eruptive, excitable,
      explodable, exploding, explosible, fiery, flapping, fraught,
      fraught with danger, fulminating, gelignite, glide, glottal,
      glottalization, gunpowder, guttural, hasty, hazardous,
      high explosive, high-mettled, high-spirited, high-strung,
      highly emotional, hot, hot-tempered, hotheaded, iffy, inflammable,
      irascible, irritable, jeopardous, knocking, labial, labialization,
      labiodental, labiovelar, laryngeal, lateral, lingual, liquid,
      manner of articulation, melinite, menacing, mettlesome,
      modification, monophthong, morphophoneme, mute, nasal, nasty,
      nervous, nitrocotton, nitroglycerin, occlusive, palatal,
      parasitic vowel, parlous, passionate, peak, peppery, periculous,
      perilous, perturbable, pharyngeal, pharyngealization, phone,
      phoneme, plastic, plastic explosive, plosive, popping, powder,
      precarious, prickly, prothetic vowel, quick, quick-tempered,
      rapping, retroflex, segmental phoneme, semivowel, sensitive,
      serious, shaky, short-tempered, skittish, slapping, slatting,
      smokeless powder, sonant, sonority, speech sound, spunky,
      startlish, stop, surd, syllabic nucleus, syllabic peak, syllable,
      tapping, tense, threatening, touch-and-go, touchy,
      transition sound, trinitrotoluol, triphthong, ugly, uncertain,
      unpredictable, unsound, unstable, velar, villanous saltpetre,
      vocable, vocalic, vocoid, voice, voiced sound, voiceless sound,
      voicing, volatile, volcanic, vowel

    

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