v. 25B6; verb
a bomb has exploded : BLOW UP, detonate, go off, burst (apart), fly apart.
exploding the first atomic device : DETONATE, set off, let off, discharge.
he exploded in anger : LOSE ONE'S TEMPER, blow up, get angry, become enraged; informal fly off the handle, hit the roof, blow one's cool/top, go wild, go bananas, see red, go off the deep end; Brit. informal go spare, go crackers; N. Amer. informal blow one's lid/stack.
the city's exploding population : INCREASE SUDDENLY/RAPIDLY, mushroom, snowball, escalate, multiply, burgeon, rocket.
exploding the myths about men : DISPROVE, refute, rebut, invalidate, negate, negative, controvert, repudiate, discredit, debunk, belie, give the lie to; informal shoot full of holes, blow out of the water; formal confute.
defuse.