bomb
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: /bɑm/
- Audio (US)help, file
- Rhymes: -ɒm
[edit] Etymology
From Ancient Greek βόμβος (bombos), “‘booming, humming, buzzing’”), imitative of the sound itself, via Latin bombus (“‘a booming sound’”).
[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
bomb (plural bombs)
- An explosive device used or intended as a weapon.
- (slang): A failure; an unpopular commercial product.
- That movie was a bomb.
- (Australian and US, vehicles, informal) A car in poor condition. Used often as old bomb.
- 2005 August 6, Warm affection for a rust-bucket past, Sydney Morning Herald [1]
- "Nowadays, an old bomb simply won’t pass the inspection."
- 2005 August 6, Warm affection for a rust-bucket past, Sydney Morning Herald [1]
- (chiefly British slang) A success; the bomb.
- Our fabulous new crumpets have been selling like a bomb.
- (chiefly British slang) A very attractive woman; a bombshell.
- (American football) A long forward pass.
- (chemistry) A heavy-walled container designed to permit chemical reactions under high pressure. "The titanium tetrachloride is then reduced with sodium to form pure metallic titanium (99.9%) by heating TiCl4 with Na in a steel bomb at 700–800 °C in the Hunter process."
[edit] Usage notes
The diametrical slang meanings are somewhat distinguishable by the article. For “a success”, the phrase is generally the bomb. Otherwise bomb can mean “a failure”.
[edit] Synonyms
- (attractive woman): bombshell
- (car): rust bucket
[edit] Derived terms
- A-bomb
- atom bomb
- atomic bomb
- bomb squad
- car bomb
- dirty bomb
- gay bomb
- H-bomb
- hydrogen bomb
- neutron bomb
- paper bomb
- petrol bomb
- pipe bomb
- sex bomb
[edit] Translations
a device filled with explosives
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success — see success
a very attractive woman
[edit] See also
[edit] Verb
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Infinitive |
Third person singular |
Simple past |
Past participle |
Present participle |
to bomb (third-person singular simple present bombs, present participle bombing, simple past and past participle bombed)
- (transitive) To attack using one or more bombs; to bombard.
- (slang) (intransitive) To fail dismally.
- Despite all the marketing, our product bombed. Nobody would buy it.
- Dunce cap bombed his examination yet again.
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
to attack with bombs
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fail spectacularly
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
[edit] Norwegian
[edit] Verb form
bomb
- Imperative of bombe