a self-propelled, cigar-shaped missile containing explosives and often equipped with a homing device, launched from a submarine or other warship, for destroying surface vessels or other submarines.
2.
any of various submarine explosive devices for destroying hostile ships, as a mine.
3.
a cartridge of gunpowder, dynamite, or the like, exploded in an oil well to facilitate the extraction of oil from the well.
4.
a detonating device fastened to the top of a rail so as to be exploded by the pressure of a locomotive or car, thus giving an audible signal to members of a train crew.
5.
any of various other explosive devices, as a firework that consists of an explosive wrapped up with gravel in a piece of tissue paper and that detonates when thrown forcibly on the ground or against a hard surface.
6.
Also called torpedo fish.an electric ray, esp. Torpedo nobiliana, of the Atlantic Ocean.
7.
an electric catfish, Malapterurus electricus, inhabiting waters of tropical central Africa and the Nile valley.
8.
Informal. a hero sandwich.
9.
Slang. a gangster hired as a murderer.
–verb (used with object)
10.
to attack, hit, damage, or destroy with torpedoes.
11.
to explode a torpedo in (an oil well) to facilitate the extraction of oil.
12.
to undermine, ruin, or destroy: He torpedoed our plans.
–verb (used without object)
13.
to attack, damage, or sink a ship with torpedoes.
[Origin: 1510–20; < L torpédō numbness, torpidity, electric ray, equiv. to torpé(re) to be stiff (see torpid1) + -dō n. suffix]
electric ray
n.
Any of various tropical or subtropical marine fishes of the family Torpedinidae, having a rounded body and a pair of organs capable of producing an electric discharge, which is used to stun or kill prey. Also called crampfish, numbfish, torpedo.
Nautical A vessel that is capable of operating submerged. Also called sub1.
A large sandwich consisting of a long roll split lengthwise and filled with layers of meat, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, and condiments. Also called sub1; also called regionally Cuban sandwich, grinder, hero, hoagie, Italian sandwich, poor boy, torpedo, wedge, zep.
adj.
Beneath the surface of the water; undersea.
v.
sub·ma·rined, sub·ma·rin·ing, sub·ma·rines
v.
tr.
To attack by submarine, especially with torpedoes.
Sports To knock down with a blow to the legs.
Baseball To pitch (a ball) with an underhand motion.
v.
intr.
To slide, drive, or throw under something.
The long sandwich featuring layers of meat and cheese on a crusty Italian roll or French bread goes by a variety of names. These names are not distributed in a pattern similar to that of other regional words because their use depends on the business and marketing enterprise of the people who create the sandwiches and sell them. Submarine and sub are widespread terms, not assignable to any particular region. Many of the localized terms are clustered in the northeast United States, where the greatest numbers of Italian Americans live. In Maine, it is called an Italian sandwich, befitting its heritage. Elsewhere in New England and in Sacramento, California, it is often called a grinder. New York City knows it as a hero. In the Delaware Valley, including Philadelphia and southern New Jersey, the sandwich is called a hoagie. Speakers in Miami use the name Cuban sandwich. Along the Gulf Coast the same sandwich is often called a poor boy. In New Orleans, a poor boy is likely to be offered in a version featuring fried oysters.
A cigar-shaped, self-propelled underwater projectile launched from a submarine, aircraft, or ship and designed to detonate on contact with or in the vicinity of a target.
Any of various submarine explosive devices, especially a submarine mine.
A small explosive placed on a railroad track that is fired by the weight of the train to sound a warning of an approaching hazard.
An explosive fired in an oil or gas well to begin or increase the flow.
A small firework consisting of gravel wrapped in tissue paper with a percussion cap that explodes when thrown against a hard surface.
c.1520, "electric ray," from L. torpedo, originally "numbness" (from the effect of being jolted by the ray's electric discharges), from torpere "be numb" (see torpor). The sense of "explosive device used to blow up enemy ships" is first recorded 1776, as a floating mine; the self-propelled version is from 1860s. The verb is first recorded 1873; the fig. sense is attested from 1895.
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
3.
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)
4.
a small firework that consists of a percussion cap and some gravel wrapped in paper; explodes when thrown forcefully against a hard surface
5.
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
6.
armament consisting of a long cylindrical self-propelled underwater projectile that detonates on contact with a target
7.
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 [syn: electric ray]
an underwater missile fired at ships Example: an enemy torpedo
Arabic:
طُربيد: صاروخ تَحت مائي لِنَسْف السُّفُن
Chinese (Simplified):
鱼雷
Chinese (Traditional):
魚雷
Czech:
torpédo
Danish:
torpedo
Dutch:
torpedo
Estonian:
torpeedo
Finnish:
torpedo
French:
torpille
German:
der Torpedo
Greek:
τορπίλη
Hungarian:
torpedó
Icelandic:
tundurskeyti
Indonesian:
torpedo
Italian:
torpedine, siluro
Japanese:
魚雷
Latvian:
torpēda
Lithuanian:
torpeda
Norwegian:
torpedo
Polish:
torpeda
Portuguese (Brazil):
torpedo
Portuguese (Portugal):
torpedo
Romanian:
torpilă
Russian:
торпеда
Slovak:
torpédo
Slovenian:
torpedo
Spanish:
torpedo
Swedish:
torped
Turkish:
torpido
torpedo[toːˈpiːdəu]verb
3rd person singular present tense torpedoes: past tense, past participle torˈpedoed — to attack, damage or destroy with torpedoes Example: The ship was torpedoed.
E*lec"tric\, Electrical \E*lec"tric*al\, a. [L. electrum amber, a mixed metal, Gr. ?; akin to ? the beaming sun, cf. Skr. arc to beam, shine: cf. F. ['e]lectrique. The name came from the production of electricity by the friction of amber.]1. Pertaining to electricity; consisting of, containing, derived from, or produced by, electricity; as, electric power or virtue; an electric jar; electric effects; an electric spark. 2. Capable of occasioning the phenomena of electricity; as, an electric or electrical machine or substance. 3. Electrifying; thrilling; magnetic. "Electric Pindar." --Mrs. Browning. Electric atmosphere, or Electric aura. See under Aura. Electrical battery. See Battery. Electrical brush. See under Brush. Electric cable. See Telegraph cable, under Telegraph. Electric candle. See under Candle. Electric cat (Zo["o]l.), one of three or more large species of African catfish of the genus Malapterurus (esp. M. electricus of the Nile). They have a large electrical organ and are able to give powerful shocks; -- called also sheathfish. Electric clock. See under Clock, and see Electro-chronograph. Electric current, a current or stream of electricity traversing a closed circuit formed of conducting substances, or passing by means of conductors from one body to another which is in a different electrical state. Electric, or Electrical, eel (Zo["o]l.), a South American eel-like fresh-water fish of the genus Gymnotus (G. electricus), from two to five feet in length, capable of giving a violent electric shock. See Gymnotus. Electrical fish (Zo["o]l.), any fish which has an electrical organ by means of which it can give an electrical shock. The best known kinds are the torpedo, the gymnotus, or electrical eel, and the electric cat. See Torpedo, and Gymnotus. Electric fluid, the supposed matter of electricity; lightning. Electrical image (Elec.), a collection of electrical points regarded as forming, by an analogy with optical phenomena, an image of certain other electrical points, and used in the solution of electrical problems. --Sir W. Thomson. Electrical light, the light produced by a current of electricity which in passing through a resisting medium heats it to incandescence or burns it. See under Carbon. Electric, or Electrical, machine, an apparatus for generating, collecting, or exciting, electricity, as by friction. Electric motor. See Electro-motor, 2. Electric osmose. (Physics) See under Osmose. Electric pen, a hand pen for making perforated stencils for multiplying writings. It has a puncturing needle driven at great speed by a very small magneto-electric engine on the penhandle. Electric railway, a railway in which the machinery for moving the cars is driven by an electric current. Electric ray (Zo["o]l.), the torpedo. Electric telegraph. See Telegraph.
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Audio Help [tawr-pee-doh] Pronunciation Key noun, plural -does, verb, -doed, -do·ing. 
