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Molotov cocktail

Origin

noun

a crude incendiary grenade consisting of a bottle filled with a flammable liquid and a wick that is ignited before throwing: used originally for setting fire to enemy tanks during the Spanish Civil War.

Origin:
1935–40; named after V. M. Molotov

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collins

World English Dictionary

Molotov cocktail (ˈmɒləˌtɒf)

—n
	an elementary incendiary weapon, usually a bottle of petrol with a short-delay fuse or wick; petrol bomb

[C20: named after V. M. Molotov]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

Molotov cocktail

1940, from Russo-Finnish War (used and satirically named by the Finns), from Molotov (from Rus. molot "hammer") name taken by Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Skriabin (1890-1986), Soviet minister of foreign affairs 1939-1949.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage

Cultural Dictionary

Molotov cocktail [(mol-uh-tawf, mol-uh-tawv)]

An incendiary bomb made from a breakable container, such as a bottle, filled with flammable liquid and provided with a rag wick. Used by the Soviets against the invading German armies in World War II, these bombs were nicknamed after V. M. Molotov, a foreign minister of the Soviet Union at that time.

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"A rioter with a Molotov cocktail in his hands is not fighting for civil rights any more than a Klansman with a sheet on his back and a mask on his face."

-Lyndon Baines Johnson

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