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explosionar

to explode

verb ehk-sploh-syoh-NAHR Rare
Descriptions & Qualities Conditions

Usage Note

Explosionar is a back-formation from explosión, used especially in Spain to mean 'to explode' or 'to blow up' (intransitive). It is considered informal or colloquial by prescriptivists; the more traditional verb is explotar (which is also the verb for 'to exploit', so context matters). In journalistic language explosionar is frequent: el coche explotó / explosionó.

Examples

"El artefacto puede explosionar en cualquier momento."

Natural Translation

The device can explode at any moment.

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