炸 (4th tone) = explode / bomb / rage. The deep-fry sense is filed under 炸 (2nd tone) as a separate entry. Cooking recipes use 炸; weapons and tantrums use 炸.
usage
Internet slang 炸了 = 'blew up' - a post went viral, a comment section erupted, or someone lost their temper. The same 炸 also covers crowds suddenly scattering in panic, as in 炸窝 (the nest scatters).
Left 火 is the indexing fire radical in its standalone four-stroke form (not compressed to the bottom-row 灬). It frames 炸 as a heat-driven sudden event - a flash, a burst. Same radical family: 烧 burn, 爆 explode, 烤 roast.
Right 乍 supplies the sound exactly. Same phonetic family: 诈 deceive, 榨 press, 咋 how. 乍 also means 'suddenly' in classical usage, adding a faint semantic boost - a sudden burst of fire fits the explosion sense perfectly.
