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Glite Dictionary
unexploded

unexploded

9 6.9
A bomb or shell that has not exploded and is still dangerous
  • adjective
  • /ˌʌnɪkˈspləʊdɪd/
: sin detonar
  • The challenge simulates a combat zone or post-war scenario in which there is unexploded ordnance.
  • an unexploded bomb
  • unexploded munitions
  • unexploded mines

The third part of this dynamic is the living with the unexploded bomb part of it, the waiting for things to explode part of it.

Examples

  • After World War II, the US government dumped millions of kilograms of unexploded bombs into the Gulf of Mexico.

    Blog text (5)

  • Excavations at the old airport site produced two unexploded 250-pound WWII bombs.

    Academic text (2004)

  • Looks like the lieutenant here is standing on an unexploded mine.

    The Monuments Men (2014)

  • And in these same locations, around battle sites, unexploded ordnance still sits just under the ground.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • A recovered unexploded torpedo carried an explosive charge of 1,000 pounds.

    Academic text (1991)

  • New funding will mean fewer unexploded bombs in Savannakhet province this year.

    Blog text (8)

  • Three unexploded bombs were pulled out of the Murrah building after the truck bomb blew up.

    Blog text (17)

  • But archaeologists still find bombs, some unexploded, when digging or conducting restoration work.

  • Now, the battlefield around Verdun is still littered with unexploded shells, shrapnel pieces and bullet fragments.

  • The construction crew discovered an unexploded bomb while digging near the old railway line.

Synonyms

unfired
vsunexploded
1 4.8

A bullet or cartridge that has not been shot

is about items remaining without having exploded rather than being simply not shot
undischarged
vsunexploded
  • Specialized
7.7

A bullet or shell that has not been fired and can still explode

is about items remaining without having exploded rather than their live status

Surface Forms

unexploded positive

Morphology

unexploded = exploded (transparent) = un + explode + ed

Formed by adding the productive negative prefix 'un-' to the adjective 'exploded', so the meaning 'not exploded' is directly inferable.

Etymology

The word unexploded is made from the prefix un- meaning 'not' and the verb explode meaning 'to burst or blow up', so an unexploded bomb is one that did not go off and is still dangerous.