plosion

P3L1O1S1I1O1N1

noun

Pronunciation of a consonant that is characterised by completely blocking the flow of air through the mouth.

Similar
Scrabble 9

Meanings

nounplosion (countable and uncountable, plural plosions)

plural plosions

  1. countableuncountablehuman sciencesPronunciation of a consonant that is characterised by completely blocking the flow of air through the mouth.

    To avoid too much air escape at the moment of plosion, the tongue-tip is placed lightly on the alveolar ridge, the less muscular pressure the better.

    1998, Michael McCallion, The voice book: for everyone who wants to make the most of their voice
    2 more examples

    In Russian, nasal plosion is confined to cases where both the plosive and the nasal consonant have the same primary articulation. In English, however, nasal plosion occurs also in such groups as kn, tm (as in Hackney ['haekni], utmost [ˈʌtmoʊst]).

    1923, Michael V. Trofimov, Daniel Jones, The pronunciation of Russian

    Plosive consonants are sometimes not fully articulated ; under certain conditions they may be reduced to stops only, without plosions. This generally happens in English when a plosive is immediately followed by another plosive.

    1956, Daniel Jones, The pronunciation of English, page 121

Synonyms & antonyms

nounthe terminal forced release of pressure built up during the occlusive phase of a stop consonant

Similar
Broader
releasetone ending
Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰ
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰs
  3. Proto-Italic*eks
  4. Latinex
  5. Latinex-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*pleth₂-?
  7. Proto-Indo-European*pel-?
  8. Proto-Indo-European*pleh₂-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*pleh₂-u-h₂-
  10. Proto-Indo-European*pleh₂-u-d-
  11. Latinplaudō
  12. Latinexplōdō
  13. Latinexplosiō
  14. Latinexplosiōnem
  15. Frenchexplosion
  16. Englishexplosionclip.
  17. Englishplosion

Clipping of explosion. Compare plosive.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French plosion
  • plosionpronunciation of a consonant
Polish plozja
  • plozjapronunciation of a consonant
Cite this entry
APA

plosion. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plosion

MLA

“plosion.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plosion. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “plosion,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plosion.

Source: plosion on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.