Molotov cocktail
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A crude incendiary bomb made from a glass bottle, either filled with a flammable liquid such as petroleum and supplied with a rag for a fuse that is lit just before being hurled, or filled with such a mix of flammable liquids that it ignites itself when it is smashed and its contents are exposed to air.
"The site, which appears in the wake of anti-Elon Musk protests across the country, displays names, addresses, and phone numbers of Tesla owners on an interactive map and uses an image of a Molotov cocktail as its cursor. […] In one incident in Las Vegas, an individual dressed in black used Molotov cocktails to ignite five Tesla vehicles at a service center."
- 2 Alternative letter-case form of Molotov cocktail. alt-of
"FBI Director Kash Patel’s home is also listed on the map, which uses a molotov cocktail as its cursor. […] On Tuesday, a masked man used molotov cocktails to firebomb a Tesla dealership in Las Vegas before firing rounds into the burning vehicles."
- 3 a crude incendiary bomb made of a bottle filled with flammable liquid and fitted with a rag wick wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"The site, which appears in the wake of anti-Elon Musk protests across the country, displays names, addresses, and phone numbers of Tesla owners on an interactive map and uses an image of a Molotov cocktail as its cursor. […] In one incident in Las Vegas, an individual dressed in black used Molotov cocktails to ignite five Tesla vehicles at a service center."
Etymology
Calque of Finnish Molotovin koktaili. Coined in Finland during the Winter War of 1939–40 between Finland and the Soviet Union, and named after then-Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov (1890–1986), who claimed the bombs the Soviet Union dropped on Finland were airborne humanitarian food deliveries prompting Finns to say their firebombs were Molotov cocktails (drinks to go with his food deliveries).