爆 means “explode, burst”

ばく · baku

Also: bomb, burst open, pop, split

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

はぜる

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

バク

JLPT N2 · Taught in secondary school · 19 strokes

The story

Fire (火) gone violent (暴): an explosion. 爆発 is a blast and 爆弾 a bomb, but 爆 turns up in everyday slang too: 爆笑 is a room roaring with laughter and 爆睡 is sleeping like a log.

Used in 爆発 (bakuhatsu, explosion), 爆弾 (bakudan, bomb), and 爆笑 (bakushou, roar of laughter)

More from Warriors & Rivals

• 乱 disorder
• 刺 stab
• 勇 courage
• 隻 counter for ships
• 防 prevent
• 武 martial
• 被 suffer
• 兵 soldier
• 競 compete
• 将 commander
• 暴 violent
• 圧 pressure

Learn 爆 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.