Softnose
adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A bullet of this kind; (uncountable) bullets of this kind collectively. countable
"The soft nose when it strikes a hard substance, mushrooms, would leave ten times as large a hole as a hard nose bullet striking the same substance. A soft nose bullet would leave a ragged edge."
- 1 Of a bullet: lacking a jacketed nose and thereby deforming greatly on impact, causing a large amount of damage; soft-nosed. not-comparable
"Questions that have arisen regarding the "stopping power" of the modern small-caliber bullet, particularly in view of the reduction of the caliber of the rifle in some services to 0.25 inch, or even less, have led to propositions to adopt soft-nose or "mushrooming" bullets, which will be deformed on striking an animate object, inflict a more dangerous wound, and increase the shock over that given by a hard bullet of the same caliber and weight, which would penetrate the body without deformation. […] The soft-nose bullet is inferior in accuracy, and is especially inferior in its ability to penetrate hard substances used for defensive purposes, making it almost useless to reach troops under cover that would be dislodged by the service bullet."
Example
More examples"Questions that have arisen regarding the "stopping power" of the modern small-caliber bullet, particularly in view of the reduction of the caliber of the rifle in some services to 0.25 inch, or even less, have led to propositions to adopt soft-nose or "mushrooming" bullets, which will be deformed on striking an animate object, inflict a more dangerous wound, and increase the shock over that given by a hard bullet of the same caliber and weight, which would penetrate the body without deformation. […] The soft-nose bullet is inferior in accuracy, and is especially inferior in its ability to penetrate hard substances used for defensive purposes, making it almost useless to reach troops under cover that would be dislodged by the service bullet."
Etymology
From soft (adjective) + nose.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.