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Torpedo
Definitions
- 1 An electric ray of the genus Torpedo.
"Faire Queene, forbeare to angle for the fiſh, / Which being caught, ſtrikes him that takes it dead, / I meane that vile Torpedo, Gaueſton, / That now I hope flotes on the Iriſh Seas"
- 2 any sluggish bottom-dwelling ray of the order Torpediniformes having a rounded body and electric organs on each side of the head capable of emitting strong electric discharges wordnet
- 3 A cylindrical explosive projectile that can travel underwater and is used as a weapon.
"I stood rigid, spellbound, watching the white wake of the torpedo. It struck us on the starboard side almost amidships. The vessel rocked as though the sea beneath it had been uptorn by a mighty volcano."
- 4 armament consisting of a long cylindrical self-propelled underwater projectile that detonates on contact with a target wordnet
- 5 A cylindrical explosive projectile that can travel underwater and is used as a weapon.; A similar projectile that can travel through space.
Show 17 more definitions
- 6 a small explosive device that is placed on a railroad track and fires when a train runs over it; the sound of the explosion warns the engineer of danger ahead wordnet
- 7 A submarine sandwich. Northeastern, US
- 8 a small firework that consists of a percussion cap and some gravel wrapped in paper; explodes when thrown forcefully against a hard surface wordnet
- 9 A naval mine. archaic
- 10 an explosive device that is set off in an oil well (or a gas well) to start or to increase the flow of oil (or gas) wordnet
- 11 An explosive device buried underground and set off remotely, to destroy fortifications, troops, or cavalry; a land torpedo. obsolete
- 12 a large sandwich made of a long crusty roll split lengthwise and filled with meats and cheese (and tomato and onion and lettuce and condiments); different names are used in different sections of the United States wordnet
- 13 A professional gunman or assassin. slang
- 14 a professional killer who uses a gun wordnet
- 15 A small explosive device attached to the top of the rail to provide an audible warning when a train passes over it. US
- 16 A kind of firework in the form of a small ball, or pellet, which explodes when thrown upon a hard object.
- 17 An automobile with a streamlined profile and a folding or detachable soft top, and having the hood or bonnet line raised to be level with the car's waistline, resulting in a straight beltline from front to back. historical
- 18 A focal ovoid swelling on the axons of Purkinje cells, observed in several diseases such as essential tremor and spinocerebellar ataxia.
"In several human neurodegenerative diseases, focal axonal swellings on Purkinje cells – known as torpedoes – have been associated with Purkinje cell loss. Interestingly, torpedoes are also reported to appear transiently during development in rat cerebellum."
- 19 A woman's shoe with a pointed toe. US, plural-normally, slang
- 20 A large breast; a breast with a large nipple. US, plural-normally, slang
- 21 A marijuana cigarette.; A thick marijuana cigarette. slang
- 22 A marijuana cigarette.; A cigarette containing marijuana and crack cocaine. slang
- 1 To strike (a ship) with one or more torpedoes. transitive
- 2 attack or hit with torpedoes wordnet
- 3 To sink (a ship) with one or more torpedoes. transitive
"The anti-German riots which erupted simultaneously in many countries in response to the torpedoing of the Lusitania by a German U-boat in 1915 reflected shifts in the status of minorities in multi-ethnic societies at a time of escalating nationalist emotions."
- 4 To undermine or destroy any endeavor with a powerful attack. figuratively, transitive
"The left-back had been a selection concern because of an injury niggle but his first goal since last March swung this derby decisively in United’s favour, extending their club record unbeaten run away from home in the Premier League to 22 games and torpedoing City’s sequence of 21 straight wins in all competitions."
Etymology
* Borrowed from Latin torpēdō (“a torpedo fish; numbness, torpidity, electric ray”), from torpeō (“to be stiff, numb, torpid; to be astounded; to be inactive”) + -ēdō (noun suffix), from Proto-Indo-European *ster- (“stiff”). In the military sense coined by Robert Fulton in 1805. Cognate with Old English steorfan (“to die”), Ancient Greek στερεός (stereós, “solid”), Lithuanian tirpstu (“to become rigid”), Old Church Slavonic трупети (trupeti). * (type of car): From 1908, after "the Torpedo", a car designed by Captain Theo Masui.
* Borrowed from Latin torpēdō (“a torpedo fish; numbness, torpidity, electric ray”), from torpeō (“to be stiff, numb, torpid; to be astounded; to be inactive”) + -ēdō (noun suffix), from Proto-Indo-European *ster- (“stiff”). In the military sense coined by Robert Fulton in 1805. Cognate with Old English steorfan (“to die”), Ancient Greek στερεός (stereós, “solid”), Lithuanian tirpstu (“to become rigid”), Old Church Slavonic трупети (trupeti). * (type of car): From 1908, after "the Torpedo", a car designed by Captain Theo Masui.
See also for "torpedo"
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Unscramble this word: torpedo