Fulminate

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈfÊŒlmɪneɪt/

Origin

From Latin fulminātus, past participle of fulminō ("lighten, hurl or strike with lightning"), from fulmen ("lightning which strikes and sets on fire, thunderbolt"), from earlier *fulgmen, *fulgimen, from fulgō, fulgeō ("flash, lighten"). More at fulgent.

Full definition of fulminate

Verb

1. (intransitive, figuratively) To make a verbal attack.
2. (transitive, figuratively) To issue as a denunciation.
• De QuinceyThey fulminated the most hostile of all decrees.
3. (now rare) To strike with lightning; to cause to explode.
• 2009, Thomas Pynchon, Inherent Vice, Vintage 2010, p. 235:the present owners couldn't afford the electric bills anymore, several amateur gaffers, sad to say, having already been fulminated trying to bootleg power in off the municipal lines.

Synonyms

• (verbal attack) berate, condemn, criticize, denounce, denunciate, vilify

Noun

1. (chemistry) Any salt or ester of fulminic acid, mostly explosive.
• 1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York Review Books 2006, p. 193:On 19 February a jubilant Bigeard announced that his 3rd R.P.C. had seized eighty-seven bombs, seventy kilos of explosive, 5,120 fulminate of mercury detonators, 309 electric detonators, etc.

Related terms

• fulmination
• fulminator
• fulminatory
• fulminic
• mercury fulminate