Standard Lemma guide

implosion

noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ɪmˈpləʊʒən/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: IH2 M P L OW1 ZH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The inrush of air in forming a suction stop.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The action of imploding.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The act or action of bringing to or as if to a center.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Violent compression.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A catastrophic failure; a sudden failure or collapse of an organization or system.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

the initial occluded phase of a stop consonant

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: blockage, closure, occlusion

7

noun

Meaning 7

a sudden inward collapse

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the implosion of a light bulb

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: collapse

Narrower terms: gravitational collapse

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Italic *n̥- Latin in-bor. Middle English in- English in- English explosion English implosion From in- + explosion.

Across languages

Translations

27 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: implosió — action of imploding
  • Chinese Mandarin: 內爆 /内爆 (nèibào) — action of imploding
  • Chinese Mandarin: 爆縮 /爆缩 (bàosuō) — action of imploding
  • Finnish: imploosio — action of imploding
  • Finnish: luhistuminen — action of imploding
  • French: implosion — action of imploding
  • Galician: implosión — action of imploding
  • Georgian: იმპლოზია (imṗlozia) — action of imploding
  • German: Implosion — action of imploding
  • Hindi: अंत:स्फोट (ant:sphoṭ) — action of imploding
  • Ido: implozo — action of imploding
  • Italian: implosione — action of imploding
  • Japanese: 爆縮 (bakushuku) — action of imploding
  • Japanese: 内破 (naiha) — action of imploding
  • Kazakh: имплозия (imploziä) — action of imploding
  • Malayalam: അവസ്ഫോടനം (avasphōṭanaṁ) — action of imploding
  • Occitan: implosion — action of imploding
  • Polish: implozja — action of imploding
  • Portuguese: implosão — action of imploding
  • Romanian: implozie — action of imploding
  • Russian: импло́зия (implózija) — action of imploding
  • Russian: взрыв (vzryv) — action of imploding
  • Serbo-Croatian: ѝмпло̄зија — action of imploding
  • Serbo-Croatian: ìmplōzija — action of imploding
  • Spanish: implosión — action of imploding
  • Ukrainian: імплозія (implozija) — action of imploding
  • Ukrainian: вибух (vybux) — action of imploding