explode [M16th] In Roman days bad performers were exploded, for explode comes from Latin explodere ‘to drive off with hissing or clapping, to boo off the stage’, from ex- ‘out’ and plaudere ‘to clap’ (see plaudit). Early meanings of explode were ‘to reject scornfully’, and ‘to show to be false’ [E17th] (still used in phrases like explode a theory). The modern sense appeared in the late 17th century via the sense ‘to force out violently and noisily’. Implode was formed on the pattern of explode in the late 19th century using in- ‘within’.