Meanings
plural detonators
- UKrail transportA small explosive device attached to the railhead to provide an audible warning when a train passes over it.
1 more example
Warning messages were relayed to the signalmen at Slough East and Dolphin Junction boxes with such celerity that the up main signals were replaced to danger in front of the express before it finally stopped. The signalman at Dolphin Junction just had time to replace the down main signals and pull the emergency lever to lay detonators in front of the fast approaching 7 p.m. Paddington-Reading train.
1960 March, “Talking of Trains: The Slough Derailment”, in Trains Illustrated, page 132Synonyms: torpedo
- archaicAny explosive whose action is practically instantaneous.
- obsoleteA gun fired by a percussion cap.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA small explosive device attached to the railhead to provide an audible warning when a train passes over it.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna mechanical or electrical explosive device or a small amount of explosive; can be used to initiate the reaction of a disrupting explosive
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Bulgarian детона́тор, запалка
- детона́тор (detonátor)device used to detonate an explosive device
- запалка (zapalka)device used to detonate an explosive device
Catalan detonador
- detonadordevice used to detonate an explosive device
Chinese Mandarin 雷管, 響墩 /响墩
- 雷管 (léiguǎn)device used to detonate an explosive device
- 響墩 /响墩 (xiǎngdūn)rail transport: small explosive warning device
Czech rozbuška, detonátor
- rozbuškadevice used to detonate an explosive device
- detonátordevice used to detonate an explosive device
- třaskavkarail transport: small explosive warning device
Danish detonator
- detonatordevice used to detonate an explosive device
Dutch detonator, ontsteker
- detonatordevice used to detonate an explosive device
- ontstekerdevice used to detonate an explosive device
Finnish sytytin
- sytytindevice used to detonate an explosive device
French détonateur, capsule fulminante
- détonateurdevice used to detonate an explosive device
- capsule fulminantedevice used to detonate an explosive device
German Zünder
- Zünderdevice used to detonate an explosive device
Hindi विस्फोटक
- विस्फोटक (visphoṭak)device used to detonate an explosive device
Hungarian detonátor, gyutacs
- detonátordevice used to detonate an explosive device
- gyutacsdevice used to detonate an explosive device
- gyújtódevice used to detonate an explosive device
- gyújtószerkezetdevice used to detonate an explosive device
Italian detonatore
- detonatoredevice used to detonate an explosive device
Japanese 雷管
- 雷管 (raikan)device used to detonate an explosive device
Korean 뇌관
- 뇌관 (noegwan)device used to detonate an explosive device
Polish detonator
- detonatordevice used to detonate an explosive device
Portuguese detonador
- detonadordevice used to detonate an explosive device
Romanian detonator
- detonatordevice used to detonate an explosive device
Russian детона́тор, ка́псюль-детона́тор
- детона́тор (detonátor)device used to detonate an explosive device
- ка́псюль-детона́тор (kápsjulʹ-detonátor)device used to detonate an explosive device
- запа́л (zapál)device used to detonate an explosive device
- железнодоро́жная пета́рда (železnodoróžnaja petárda)rail transport: small explosive warning device
- пета́рда (petárda)rail transport: small explosive warning device
Spanish detonador, detonante
- detonadordevice used to detonate an explosive device
- detonantedevice used to detonate an explosive device
Swedish detonator
- detonatordevice used to detonate an explosive device
Tagalog pandiklap
- pandiklapdevice used to detonate an explosive device
Turkish fünye
- fünyedevice used to detonate an explosive device
Ukrainian детона́тор, підривни́к
- детона́тор (detonátor)device used to detonate an explosive device
- підривни́к (pidryvnýk)device used to detonate an explosive device
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
detonator. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/detonator
“detonator.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/detonator. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “detonator,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/detonator.
Source: detonator on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.