Noun

(en noun)

The act of denoting, or something (such as a symbol) that denotes

(logic, linguistics, semiotics) The primary, literal, or explicit meaning of a word, phrase, or symbol; that which a word denotes, as contrasted with its connotation; the aggregate or set of objects of which a word may be predicated.

The denotations of the two expressions "the morning star" and "the evening star" are the same (i.e. both expressions denote the planet Venus), but their connotations are different.

(philosophy, logic) The intension and extension of a word

(semantics) Something signified or referred to; a particular meaning of a symbol

(semiotics) The surface or literal meaning encoded to a signifier, and the definition most likely to appear in a dictionary

(computer science) Any mathematical object which describes the meanings of expressions from the languages, formalized in the theory of denotational semantics

(media-studies) A first level of analysis: what the audience can visually see on a page. Denotation often refers to something literal, and avoids being a metaphor.

Noun

(en noun)

A violent release of energy (sometimes mechanical, nuclear, or chemical.)

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author= Chico Harlan

, volume=189, issue=2, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Japan pockets the subsidy … , passage=Across Japan, technology companies and private investors are racing to install devices that until recently they had little interest in: solar panels. Massive solar parks are popping up as part of a rapid build-up that one developer likened to an "explosion ."}}

A bursting due to pressure.

The sound of an explosion.

A sudden uncontrolled increase.

*

As with the Lejeuneaceae, this pattern of massive speciation appears to be correlated with the Cretaceous explosion of the angiosperms and the simultaneous creation of a host of new microenvironments, differing in humidity, light intensity, texture, etc.

A sudden outburst.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= Can China clean up fast enough? , passage=All this has led to an explosion of protest across China, including among a middle class that has discovered nimbyism. That worries the government, which fears that environmental activism could become the foundation for more general political opposition. It is therefore dealing with pollution in two ways—suppression and mitigation.}}