1. the action of causing a bomb or explosive device to explode: "she was in a control building at the time of detonation"
▪ a loud explosion: "a series of deafening detonations was heard"
▪ combustion of a substance which is initiated suddenly and propagates extremely rapidly, giving rise to a shock wave: "natural gas's high resistance to detonation"
▪ the premature combustion of fuel in an internal combustion engine, causing pinking.
Word Originlate 17th century: from French détonation, from the verb détoner, from Latin detonare ‘thunder down’ (see detonate).