dynamite
pronunciation
How to pronounce dynamite in British English:
UK [ˈdaɪnəmaɪt]
How to pronounce dynamite in American English:
US [ˈdaɪnəˌmaɪt]
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- Noun:
- an explosive containing nitrate sensitized with nitroglycerin absorbed on wood pulp
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- Verb:
- blow up with dynamite
Word Origin
- dynamite (n.)
- 1867, from Swedish dynamit, coined 1867 by its inventor, Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), from Greek dynamis "power" (see dynamic (adj.)) + -ite (2). Figurative sense of "something potentially dangerous" is from 1922. Positive sense of "dynamic and excellent" by mid-1960s, perhaps originally Black English.
- dynamite (v.)
- 1881, from dynamite (n.). Related: Dynamited; dynamiting.
Example
- 1. His most famous invention is dynamite .
- 2. Should there be restrictions on whom they sell such financial dynamite to ?
- 3. Fishponds were abandoned , sediment filled reefs , and dynamite fishing was introduced .
- 4. They plead for the means to go deeper but they cannot afford the dynamite or machinery .
- 5. Soldiers are also using short-range missiles and dynamite to blast apart boulders blocking the first channel , to speed up the flow of water .