dynamite

plural dynamites

1. uncountableusuallyA class of explosives made from nitroglycerine in an absorbent medium such as kieselguhr, used in mining and blasting.
2. informalproscribeduncountableusuallyA stick of trinitrotoluene (TNT).
3. figurativelyslanguncountableusuallyAnything exceptionally dangerous, exciting or wonderful.

   And your shoulders are frozen (Cold as the night) / Oh, but you're an explosion (You're dynamite)

   2005, Alex Turner, “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor”, performed by Arctic Monkeys

   3 more examples

   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!

   1969, “Gitarzan”, Ray Stevens, Bill Everette (lyrics), performed by Ray Stevens

   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.

   1977 April 30, Steve Sasville, “To Clothe Or Not...”, in Gay Community News, page 6

   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."

   2016, Kit Moulton, Annabella, page 108

4. slanguncountableusuallyA strong drug, in particular heroin, cocaine or potent marijuana.

present singular third person dynamites · participle present dynamiting · participle past dynamited · past dynamited

1. To blow up with dynamite or other high explosive.

   Gradually the construction gangs cut and dynamited their way through some of the most difficult country in the world.

   1954 February, Trevor Holloway, “Canada's Transcontinental Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 128

   1 more example

   [...] 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.

   1960 February, R. C. Riley, “The London-Birmingham services - Past, Present and Future”, in Trains Illustrated, page 101

2. figurativelyTo dismantle or destroy.

   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.

   2026 June 14, Tom English, “Why Haiti v Scotland was antidote to the ills of world football”, in BBC Sport

   1 more example

   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.

   2021 July 29, Harry Litman, “Column: Mississippi’s abortion brief dynamites standing law and ‘super duper’ precedents”, in The Los Angeles Times

3. transitiveTo apply maximum pressure to very quickly.

   dynamite the brakes

   3 more examples

   Juan dynamited the brakes and the car skidded to a halt.

   2009, Claude M. Pearson, Portia Rising, page 50

   The 1977 Pontiacs had a tendency of dying if you were at high speed and dynamited the brakes.

   2014, Mike Davis, Hunting Men: The Career of an Oregon State Police Detective, page 6

   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.

   2018, Laird Barron, Blood Standard

4. intransitiveTo lock up from being invoked too suddenly.

   the brakes will dynamite

1. A sub-sitio in the sitio of Hilltop, barangay of Ambuclao, Bokod, Benguet, Philippines.