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grenade

 - 3 dictionary results

gre⋅nade

  [gri-neyd] noun, verb, -nad⋅ed, -nad⋅ing.
Use grenade in a Sentence
–noun
1. a small shell containing an explosive and thrown by hand or fired from a rifle or launching device.
2. a similar missile containing a chemical, as for dispersing tear gas or fire-extinguishing substances.
–verb (used with object)
3. to attack with a grenade or grenades.
Origin:
1525–35; < F < Sp granada pomegranate, special use of granado having grains < L grānātus. See grain, -ate 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To grenade
gre·nade   (grə-nād')   
n.  

  1. A small bomb or explosive missile that is detonated by a fuse and thrown by hand or shot from a rifle or launcher.

  2. A glass container filled with a chemical such as tear gas that is dispersed when the container is thrown and broken.


[French, from Old French (pome) grenate, pomegranate (from its shape); see pomegranate.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

grenade 
"small explosive shell," 1591, from M.Fr. grenade "pomegranate," from O.Fr. pomegrenate (infl. by Sp. granada), so called because the many-seeded fruit suggested the powder-filled, fragmenting bomb, or from similarities of shape. Grenadiers (1676) originally were soldiers "who were dexterous in flinging hand-granados" [Evelyn], from Fr. grenadier; later "the tallest and finest men in the regiment."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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