verb
implode
verb
1
To collapse violently inward.
"Engineers detonated charges to make the old tower implode."
"The star implodes under its own gravity before it becomes a black hole."
2
(informal) To fail suddenly and completely from internal problems.
"The band imploded after years of infighting."
How to Use Implode
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishTo collapse inward violently, or (informally) to fall apart from the inside.
Common mistake
Implode means to collapse inward; explode means to burst outward — they are opposites, not synonyms.
Easily confused with
Common pairings
the building imploded
her career imploded
Word Forms
imploded past tense, implodes singular
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Engineers detonated charges to make the old tower _____.
Etymology
A back-formation from implosion, itself modelled on explosion.