dynamite

See also: dynamité

English

Etymology

Coined by Alfred Nobel in 1867. Ultimately from Ancient Greek δύναμις (dúnamis, “power”) +‎ -ite, most likely under the influence of dynamo or dynamic.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈdʌɪnəmʌɪt/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈdaɪ.nəˌmaɪt/
  • (obsolete) IPA(key): /ˈdɪ.nəˌmaɪt/[1]
  • Audio (Australia):(file)
  • Hyphenation: dy‧na‧mite

Noun

dynamite (usually uncountable, plural dynamites)

  2. A class of explosives made from nitroglycerine in an absorbent medium such as kieselguhr, used in mining and blasting.
  4. (informal, proscribed) A stick of trinitrotoluene (TNT).
  5. (figuratively, slang, uncountable) Anything exceptionally dangerous, exciting or wonderful.
    • 1969, “Gitarzan”, Ray Stevens, Bill Everette (lyrics), performed by Ray Stevens:
      On Saturday night they need some excitement
      Jane gets right, monkey gets tight
      Voices unite, in the pale moonlight
      And it sounds alright, yeah, it's dynamite
      It's outta sight
      Let's hear it, right now!
    • 1977 April 30, Steve Sasville, “To Clothe Or Not...”, in Gay Community News, page 6:
      Even though sometimes I take differing views from some articles and letters in GCN, I think it's a dynamite piece of work. Good luck and thanks again.
    • 2005, Alex Turner, “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor”, performed by Arctic Monkeys:
      And your shoulders are frozen (Cold as the night) / Oh, but you're an explosion (You're dynamite)
    • 2016, Kit Moulton, Annabella, page 108:
      That girl was dynamite. Dark hair with killer blue eyes, bronze skin, and an exquisite full-figured body.
      He warned us: "That issue about what's been happening at that factory, is political dynamite. Keep the lid on it."
  6. (slang) A strong drug, in particular heroin, cocaine or potent marijuana.

Synonyms

  • TNT (loose comparison, though chemically distinct)

Derived terms

Descendants

  • → Japanese: ダイナマイト (dainamaito)
  • → Korean: 다이너마이트 (daineomaiteu)
  • → Plautdietsch: Deinameit
  • → Welsh: deinameit

Translations

Verb

dynamite (third-person singular simple present dynamites, present participle dynamiting, simple past and past participle dynamited)

  1. To blow up with dynamite or other high explosive.
    • 1954 February, Trevor Holloway, “Canada's Transcontinental Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 128:
      Gradually the construction gangs cut and dynamited their way through some of the most difficult country in the world.
    • 1960 February, R. C. Riley, “The London-Birmingham services - Past, Present and Future”, in Trains Illustrated, page 101:
      [...] on Sunday, August 23, the L.N.W.R. tunnel was closed to enable the old brickwork to be dynamited away, traffic being diverted meanwhile through the M.R. tunnel.
  2. (figuratively) To dismantle or destroy.
    • 2021 July 29, Harry Litman, “Column: Mississippi’s abortion brief dynamites standing law and ‘super duper’ precedents”, in Los Angeles Times‎[1], Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 8 June 2026:
      Even the successful battle in the last century to overturn the court’s infamous Plessy vs. Ferguson “separate but equal” doctrine wasn’t a frontal assault that dynamited precedent.
    • 2026 June 14, Tom English, “Why Haiti v Scotland was antidote to the ills of world football”, in BBC Sport‎[2], archived from the original on 24 August 2026:
      Cue the appalling thought of a Haiti equaliser that would dynamite Scotland's hopes of doing what they came here to do - making history by making it out of a group in a World Cup.
  3. (transitive, of brakes) To apply maximum pressure to very quickly.
    dynamite the brakes
    • 2009, Claude M. Pearson, Portia Rising, page 50:
      Juan dynamited the brakes and the car skidded to a halt.
    • 2014, Mike Davis, Hunting Men: The Career of an Oregon State Police Detective, page 6:
      The 1977 Pontiacs had a tendency of dying if you were at high speed and dynamited the brakes.
    • 2018, Laird Barron, Blood Standard:
      At the critical moment I'd learned from countless action flicks I dynamited the brakes and felt the impact of the sedan against my rear bumper.
  4. (intransitive, of brakes) To lock up from being invoked too suddenly.
    the brakes will dynamite

Derived terms

Translations

See also

References

  1. ^ Hall, Joseph Sargent (2 March 1942), “2. The Vowel Sounds of Unstressed and Partially Stressed Syllables”, in The Phonetics of Great Smoky Mountain Speech (American Speech: Reprints and Monographs; 4), New York: King's Crown Press, →DOI, →ISBN, § II.1, page 60.

Further reading

French

Pronunciation

Verb

dynamite

  1. inflection of dynamiter:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative
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