— bombable , adj.
/bom/ , n.
1. Mil. a projectile, formerly usually spherical, filled with a bursting charge and exploded by means of a fuze, by impact, or otherwise, now generally designed to be dropped from an aircraft.
2. any similar missile or explosive device used as a weapon, to disperse crowds, etc.: a time bomb; a smoke bomb.
3. Also called volcanic bomb . Geol. a rough spherical or ellipsoidal mass of lava, ejected from a volcano and hardened while falling.
4. See aerosol bomb .
5. Football. a long forward pass, esp. one to a teammate who scores a touchdown.
6. Slang.
a. an absolute failure; fiasco: The play was a bomb and closed after two performances.
b. Chiefly Brit. an overwhelming success: The novel is selling like a bomb.
7. Jazz. a sudden, unexpected accent or rhythmic figure played by a drummer during a performance.
8. a lead or lead-lined container for transporting and storing radioactive materials.
9. the bomb ,
a. See atomic bomb .
b. nuclear weapons collectively.
10. Computers. a spectacular program or system failure.
11. Slang. a powerful automobile or other vehicle.
v.t.
12. to hurl bombs at or drop bombs upon, as from an airplane; bombard: The enemy planes bombed the city.
13. to explode by means of a bomb or explosive.
14. Computers. to deliberately cause (a computer system) to fail with a program written for the purpose.
v.i.
15. to hurl or drop bombs.
16. to explode a bomb or bombs.
17. Slang. to be or make a complete failure, esp. to fail to please or gain an audience; flop (sometimes fol. by out ): His last play bombed on Broadway. The business bombed out with a $25,000 debt.
18. (of a computer program or system) to fail spectacularly.
19. Informal. to move very quickly: They came bombing through here on their motorcycles at 2 A.M.
[ 1580-90; 1960-65 for def. 17; earlier bom ( b ) e bomba ( de fuego ) ball (of fire), akin to bombo drum bombus a booming sound bómbos ]