Word of the day — deflagrate

Word of the Day for Tuesday, July 17, 2012

deflagrate \DEF-luh-greyt\, verb:

To burn, especially suddenly and violently.

Then the split second realization that something was very, very
wrong, as the electricity rushed down the thin wires, sending a
spark across a gap in the blasting cap, detonating the cap and
sending the shock wave into the explosive charge, causing it to
deflagrate at blinding speed, quicker than the mind could
imagine.
— John F. Mullins, Into the Treeline

Whereas Marcel finds disappointment in his return’s incapacity to
deflagrate, to ‘flame up’ his memory, Sassoon savours a kind of
immediacy when he reaches the Rectory at Edingthorpe…
— Robert Hemmings, Modern Nostalgia

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Deflagrate is derived from the Latin root flagrāre meaning “to
burn.” The common prefix de- can denote intensity, as well as
removal.