BOMB FACTORY

noun (Politics) In the colloquial usage of police press releases: a place where terrorist bombs are made illegally or materials for their manufacture are secretly stored. Etymology: Formed by compounding: an unofficial factory for bombs. History and Usage: The term bomb factory seems to have been invented by the police, who have used it in press releases announcing the detection of terrorist bomb manufacture since the mid seventies. The term was taken up enthusiastically by the press--especially the tabloids, for whom it satisfied all the requirements of headline material (short words, the use of nouns in apposition, and emotiveness). He had no idea the four people in the room were turning it into a bomb factory. The Times 21 June 1986, p. 3 A senior police officer described the hoard--one of the biggest ever found--as 'practically the entire contents of a bomb factory'. Daily Mirror 12 Nov. 1990, p. 2