/ · 1894 Brewer’s · E · Explosion
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means literally, driven out by clapping the hands (Latin, exploʹdo—i.e. ex-plaudo); hence the noise made by clapping the hands, a report made by ignited gunpowder, etc.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.
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