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bomb
10 dictionary results for: Bomb
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
bomb       [bom] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.Military. 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. Geology. a rough spherical or ellipsoidal mass of lava, ejected from a volcano and hardened while falling.
4.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 British. 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.atomic bomb.
b.nuclear weapons collectively.
10.Computers. a spectacular program or system failure.
11.Slang. a powerful automobile or other vehicle.
–verb (used with object)
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.
–verb (used without object)
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.
[Origin: 1580–90; 1960–65 for def. 17; earlier bom(b)e < Sp bomba (de fuego) ball (of fire), akin to bombo drum < L bombus a booming sound < Gk bómbos]

—Related forms
bombable, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
bomb       (bŏm)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
    1. An explosive weapon detonated by impact, proximity to an object, a timing mechanism, or other means.
    2. An atomic or nuclear bomb. Used with the.
    3. A container capable of withstanding high internal pressure.
    4. A vessel for storing compressed gas.
    5. A portable, manually operated container that ejects a spray, foam, or gas under pressure.
    6. A large amount of money.
    7. A great success.
  2. Any of various weapons detonated to release destructive material, such as smoke or gas.
  3. Football A long forward pass.
    1. A container capable of withstanding high internal pressure.
    2. A vessel for storing compressed gas.
    3. A portable, manually operated container that ejects a spray, foam, or gas under pressure.
    4. A large amount of money.
    5. A great success.
  5. Slang A dismal failure; a fiasco.
  6. Slang An old car.
  7. Slang One that is excellent or superior. Used with the.
  8. Chiefly British Slang
    1. A large amount of money.
    2. A great success.

v.   bombed, bomb·ing, bombs

v.   tr.
To attack, damage, or destroy with or as if with bombs.

v.   intr.
  1. To drop a bomb or bombs.
  2. Slang To fail miserably: The play bombed.
  3. Slang To paint a graffito.


[French bombe, from Italian bomba, probably from Latin bombus, a booming sound, from Greek bombos, of imitative origin.]

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
bomb  (n.)
1588, from Fr. bombe, from It. bomba, probably from L. bombus "a buzzing or booming sound," from Gk. bombos "deep and hollow sound," echoic. Originally of mortar shells, etc.; modern sense of "explosive device placed by hand or dropped from airplane" is 1909. Meaning "old car" is from 1953. Meaning "success" is from 1954 (though late 1990s slang in the bomb "the best" is probably a fresh formation); opposite sense of "a failure" is from 1963. The bomb "atomic bomb" is from 1945. Bombshell in the fig. sense of "shattering or devastating thing or event" is from 1860; in ref. to a pretty woman (esp. a blonde) it is attested from 1942. Bomber as a type of military aircraft is from 1917. Bombed "drunk" is from 1959.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
bomb

noun
1. an explosive device fused to explode under specific conditions 
2. strong sealed vessel for measuring heat of combustion [syn: bomb calorimeter] 
3. an event that fails badly or is totally ineffectual; "the first experiment was a real turkey"; "the meeting was a dud as far as new business was concerned" [syn: turkey] 

verb
1. throw bombs at or attack with bombs; "The Americans bombed Dresden" [syn: bombard] 
2. fail to get a passing grade; "She studied hard but failed nevertheless"; "Did I fail the test?" [syn: fail] [ant: make it] 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

bomb

see time bomb.


The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

bomb
1. General synonym for crash except that it is not used as a noun. Especially used of software or OS failures. "Don't run Empire with less than 32K stack, it'll bomb".
2. Atari ST and Macintosh equivalents of a Unix "panic" or Amiga guru, in which icons of little black-powder bombs or mushroom clouds are displayed, indicating that the system has died. On the Macintosh, this may be accompanied by a decimal (or occasionally hexadecimal) number indicating what went wrong, similar to the Amiga guru meditation number. MS-DOS computers tend to lock up in this situation.
3. A piece of code embedded in a program that remains dormant until it is triggered. Logic bombs are triggered by an event whereas time bombs are triggered either after a set amount of time has elapsed, or when a specific date is reached.
[The Jargon File]
(1996-12-08)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Jargon File - Cite This Source - Share This

bomb


1. v. General synonym for crash (sense 1) except that it is not used as a noun; esp. used of software or OS failures. "Don't run Empire with less than 32K stack, it'll bomb."
2. n.,v. Atari ST and Macintosh equivalents of a Unix `panic' or Amiga guru (sense 2), in which icons of little black-powder bombs or mushroom clouds are displayed, indicating that the system has died. On the Mac, this may be accompanied by a decimal (or occasionally hexadecimal) number indicating what went wrong, similar to the Amiga guru meditation number. MS-DOS machines tend to get locked up in this situation.

Jargon File 4.2.0
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Bomb

Bomb\, n. [F. bombe bombshell, fr. L. bombus a humming or buzzing noise, Gr. ?.]

1. A great noise; a hollow sound. [Obs.]

A pillar of iron . . . which if you had struck, would make . . . a great bomb in the chamber beneath. --Bacon.

2. (Mil.) A shell; esp. a spherical shell, like those fired from mortars. See Shell.

3. A bomb ketch.

Bomb chest (Mil.), a chest filled with bombs, or only with gunpowder, placed under ground, to cause destruction by its explosion.

Bomb ketch, Bomb vessel (Naut.), a small ketch or vessel, very strongly built, on which mortars are mounted to be used in naval bombardments; -- called also mortar vessel.

Bomb lance, a lance or harpoon with an explosive head, used in whale fishing.

Volcanic bomb, a mass of lava of a spherical or pear shape. "I noticed volcanic bombs." --Darwin.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Bomb

Bomb\, v. t. To bombard. [Obs.] --Prior.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Bomb

Bomb\, v. i. [Cf. Boom.] To sound; to boom; to make a humming or buzzing sound. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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