plural kabooms
informal
: the sound of an explosion or crash
heard a loud kaboom
—often used interjectionallyHave you ever watched metallic sodium hit water? Kaboom. Krakatau revisited …—
Don Asher
Don AsherBut it seems to me that the minute you build an emergency fund—kaboom! Along comes an "emergency."—Jane Bryant Quinn
Jane Bryant Quinn
Phrases
go kaboom
1
informal
: to explode or crash violently
… when the house exploded the night before, cops believed that it had been a drug factory that went kaboom …—Larry Celona and Ruth Brown
Larry Celona and Ruth Brown2
informal
: to undergo a sudden, explosive change, failure, etc.
… a few crucial injuries can make the whole equation go kaboom.—Paul Zimmerman
Paul ZimmermanExamples of kaboom in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
But then there was the kaboom of Pouchy’s dynamite, which has an even greater explosive payoff toward the end.
—Bill Desowitz, IndieWire, 14 June 2024
Small details may differ in each loop, but the basic sequence is always the same: Bernard gets to the bank, as do Mulder and Scully, law enforcement rushes in, Bernard panics, and the bank goes kaboom.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 10 Sep. 2023
Who better to win the Heisman and raise the national championship trophy before the Pac-12 goes kaboom?
—Joseph Goodman | Jgoodman@al.com, al, 28 Aug. 2023
One false move: kaboom.
—Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 31 Jan. 2022
According to their impeccable records, the AI was not in control at the time of the kaboom.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 1 Aug. 2022
The clock was running down and the machinery was on the verge of going kaboom.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 1 Aug. 2022
Release that, and the greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere will go kaboom, accelerating the Earth on its trajectory toward catastrophic warming.
—Washington Post, 10 Aug. 2021
In that movie, Hanks' character, Robert Langdon, has to protect the Vatican from going kaboom.
—Smriti Rao, Discover Magazine, 23 Feb. 2010
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Bill Desowitz, IndieWire, 14 June 2024
Small details may differ in each loop, but the basic sequence is always the same: Bernard gets to the bank, as do Mulder and Scully, law enforcement rushes in, Bernard panics, and the bank goes kaboom.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 10 Sep. 2023
Who better to win the Heisman and raise the national championship trophy before the Pac-12 goes kaboom?
—Joseph Goodman | Jgoodman@al.com, al, 28 Aug. 2023
One false move: kaboom.
—Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 31 Jan. 2022
According to their impeccable records, the AI was not in control at the time of the kaboom.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 1 Aug. 2022
The clock was running down and the machinery was on the verge of going kaboom.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 1 Aug. 2022
Release that, and the greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere will go kaboom, accelerating the Earth on its trajectory toward catastrophic warming.
—Washington Post, 10 Aug. 2021
In that movie, Hanks' character, Robert Langdon, has to protect the Vatican from going kaboom.
—Smriti Rao, Discover Magazine, 23 Feb. 2010
Cite this Entry
“Kaboom.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kaboom. Accessed 15 Mar. 2025.
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