I. ˈbäm; sometimes especially South and chiefly archaic ˈbəm noun
( -s )
Etymology: French bombe, from Italian bomba, probably from Latin bombus deep hollow sound, from Greek bombos; of imitative origin like Old Norse bumba drum, Lithuanian bambėti to hum, buzz, Albanian bumbulit it is thundering
1. : a projectile or other device carrying an explosive charge fused to detonate under certain conditions (as upon impact or through a timing contrivance) and that is hurled (as by a mortar), dropped (as from an aircraft), or merely set into position at a given point (as dynamite) with varying effects (as concussion, or fire-flinging, or the release of gases) depending upon the type used
spangle bombs for fireworks displays
also : any container (as of propaganda leaflets or food) designed to be dropped from aircraft in the manner of an aerial bomb
2. : a vessel (as a steel cylinder) for compressed gases: as
a. : a pressure vessel for conducting chemical experiments at high temperature and high pressure
b. : a small manually operated dispenser that releases a substance stored under pressure (as an insecticide, a fire-extinguishing liquid, or paint) in the form of a vapor, spray, or gas
3. : the combustion chamber of a bomb calorimeter
4. : a mass of lava exploded from a volcanic vent and shaped while viscous by passage through the air into a rounded form ranging from a few inches to many feet in diameter
5. : an explosive head on a harpoon
6. : bombe
7. : a lead-lined container for radioactive material used especially in the radiation treatment of cancer
a cobalt bomb
8. : bombshell 2
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: to attack with or as if with bombs : drop bombs upon : hurl bombs at : blow up with bombs : bombard
III. noun
1. sometimes capitalized : atom bomb ; also : nuclear weapons in general — usually used with the
when the bomb has taken the place of God … as the ultimate disposer of the earth — H.C.Schonberg
2. : an unsuccessful performance or production : flop
a terrible bomb of a movie — Paul Newman
broadly : failure
3. chiefly Britain : an old car
4. Britain : a lot of money : fortune
demonstrating how to avoid the flu and save a bomb on the central heating — Richard Gordon
5. Britain : a great success : hit — often used in the phrases go a bomb or go like a bomb
6. : a long pass in football
IV. verb
intransitive verb
1. : fail ; especially : to fail to win audience approval
2. slang : to move rapidly
realized that there was more to [ski] racing than bombing down her native hill — Adam Shaw