Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive & transitive verb To burn or cause to burn with great heat and intense light.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To set fire to; burn; consume: as, to deflagrate oil or spirit.
  • To burn; burst into flame; specifically, to burn rapidly, with a sudden evolution of flame and vapor, as a mixture of charcoal and niter thrown into a red-hot crucible.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb (Chem.) To burn with a sudden and sparkling combustion, as niter; also, to snap and crackle with slight explosions when heated, as salt.
  • transitive verb (Chem.) To cause to burn with sudden and sparkling combustion, as by the action of intense heat; to burn or vaporize suddenly.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb physics To burn with intense light and heat. Specifically, to combust subsonically through thermal conduction.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb burn with great heat and intense light
  • verb cause to burn rapidly and with great intensity

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin dēflagrāre, dēflagrāt- : dē-, intensive pref.; see de– + flagrāre, to blaze; see bhel- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the participle stem of Latin deflagrare, from de + flagrare ("to burn down").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word deflagrate.

Examples

  • This explosion is of a magnitude that could not be caused by anything built in to the buildings or city infrastructure diesel fuel tank for a generator wouldn't detonate like that, it would deflagrate - there's a difference.

    Cloverfield on Yahoo Dennis 2008

  • The current induced in the secondary wire of a coil by the discharge of the condenser through the primary, was also sufficiently intense to deflagrate wires of considerable length and thickness.

    Scientific American Supplement, No. 275, April 9, 1881 Various

  • Finally, if the amount of picric acid be still further increased under these conditions, it will undergo partial decomposition and volatilise, but will not even deflagrate.

    Nitro-Explosives: A Practical Treatise

  • They are usually made of short slips of metal foil or wire, which melt or deflagrate when the current is too strong, and thus interrupt the circuit.

    The Story of Electricity John Munro 1889

  • In making this test the student must remember that sulphur and, in fact, all oxidisable bodies similarly deflagrate, but it is only in the case of carbon compounds that carbonate of potash is formed.

    A Text-book of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. Cornelius Beringer 1886

  • They deflagrate when sprinkled on fused nitre, forming carbonate of potash.

    A Text-book of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. Cornelius Beringer 1886

  • This week's Word of the Week is actually two words - conflagrate and deflagrate.

    murderati 2009

  • The fame difficulty accounts for the large proportion of nitre required to deflagrate with it completely; a quantity required, not becaufe there is much combuf - tible matter to be burned, but becaufe a long conti - nued and elevated heat is neceiliiry; by which means much of the nitre is decompofed, and its vital air flies off, without having been employed in the combullion, as appears by the two thirds of the elaftic produft, which will fupport the flame of a candle.

    The first principles of chemistry 1796

  • "But with IMX-101, all that would happen is the explosive would deflagrate (burn quickly), and the shell would break into a few pieces.

    Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • What's the difference between deflagrate and conflagrate?

    July 27, 2007

  • I blame Conde Rice.

    November 12, 2008

  • Daenerys will never her quest abate

    While enemies still are left to hate.

    Who earns that queen’s ire

    Will face dragon fire

    And watch whole battalions deflagrate.

    Note: The reference is to Game of Thrones which my wife and I have just started binge watching. Since I assume we are the last two people on the planet to see this program I will omit further explanation.

    May 4, 2019

  • Please explain.

    May 4, 2019

  • Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, First of Her Name, the Unburnt, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, and Mother of Dragons is a hot chick in many ways. She’s on a campaign to take the iron throne which she believes to be hers by right. She’s killing a lot of people along the way. Her most extravagant weapons are the three dragons she hatched from ancient eggs and raised as her “children.” They breathe fire, as dragons are wont to do, and do it with particular relish on the armies of their mother’s foes.

    We are only into season three of a saga now in its eighth and final season, so I can’t tell you more about how Daenerys fares.

    To the world at large: no spoilers please!

    May 4, 2019

  • I'm wondering how much your house insurance premiums go up when you keep dragons at home.

    May 4, 2019