Literary notes about Explosive (AI summary)
The term "explosive" in literature functions on multiple levels, oscillating between precise technical description and vivid metaphor. In scientific or technical contexts, it denotes substances with a propensity for violent reaction—highlighting properties that depend on very specific conditions [1, 2, 3, 4]—while in more narrative or character-driven passages, it evokes sudden bursts of emotion, temperament, or dramatic change [5, 6, 7, 8]. The word thereby serves as a bridge between the tangible, material world—where explosive forces shatter rock or propel machinery [9, 10]—and the abstract realm of human behavior, where a quick, volatile moment can redefine a character’s presence or the course of events [11, 12, 13].
- The gas can be liquefied easily, and in the liquid state is highly explosive.
— from The New Gresham Encyclopedia. A to Amide by Various - Experiments on the action of moist potassium nitrate on pure tin led to no result, as no explosive body was formed.
— from Scientific American Supplement, No. 365, December 30, 1882 by Various - The piston moves from left to right, and just as the movement commences valves G (gas) and A (air) open to admit the explosive mixture.
— from How it Works by Archibald Williams - A detonator with a charge of 2 grms., to be fired electrically, is placed in the midst of the explosive.
— from Nitro-Explosives: A Practical Treatise by P. Gerald (Percy Gerald) Sanford - His manner was very quiet, his smile was pleasant, but he did not like explosive laughter any better than Hawthorne did.
— from Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson by Ralph Waldo Emerson - It aches first rate," cried Little, with a deep, explosive sigh.
— from Down the Rhine; Or, Young America in Germany by Oliver Optic - It had been conferred upon him, on account of his explosive temper.
— from This House to Let by William Le Queux - Miss Ophelia sat for a moment, as if she had swallowed some explosive mixture, and were ready to burst.
— from Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe - The Orion spacecraft was designed to carry many small nuclear explosive systems which would be ejected sequentially from the rear of the vehicle.
— from Rockets, Missiles, and Spacecraft of the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution - When in position and ready for work a few moments will suffice to bore the holes, apply the explosive and blast the ledge.
— from Inventions in the Century by William Henry Doolittle - Explosive, responsive, sphere answering sphere, it waxes louder and louder.
— from The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle - To this explosive condition of things the news of Burgoyne's surrender acted as a spark.
— from The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 by A. T. Mahan - He was so odd, standing there, so aggressive and explosive, bottle in one hand and test-tube in the other, that Mrs. Hall was quite alarmed.
— from The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance by H. G. Wells
