blast wave

noun

1. a violent propagating disturbance, produced by an explosion in air, that consists of an abrupt rise in pressure followed by a drop in pressure to or below atmospheric pressure.

Word History and Origins

Origin of blast wave¹

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

Of the civilians who have been killed, the majority were torn to pieces or wounded by the blast waves of Israeli airstrikes, often using American-made bombs.

From Los Angeles Times

He felt the jolts as the blast waves shook the windows.

From Los Angeles Times

The military measures the force of blast waves in pounds of pressure per square inch, and the current safety guidelines say that anything below 4 PSI is safe for the brain.

From New York Times

Their blast waves and expanding cloud of debris may persist for more than 50,000 years.

From Science Daily

In December, it described those bombs as “one of the most destructive munitions in Western military arsenals” — a weapon that “unleashes a blast wave and metal fragments thousands of feet in every direction.”

From Salon