Torpedo Definition | Definition of Torpedo at Dictionary.com

tor⋅pe⋅do

[tawr-pee-doh]

noun, plural -does, verb, -doed, -do⋅ing.

–noun

1.	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 torpēdō numbness, torpidity, electric ray, equiv. to torpē(re) to be stiff (see torpid ¹ ) + -dō n. suffix

Related forms:

tor⋅pe⋅do⋅like, adjective

Regional variation note:
8. See hero sandwich.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To torpedo

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.

sub·ma·rine (sŭb'mə-rēn', sŭb'mə-rēn')

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.

tor·pe·do (tôr-pē'dō)

n. pl. tor·pe·does

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.
See electric ray.
Slang A professional assassin or thug.
Chiefly New Jersey See submarine. See Regional Note at submarine.

tr.v. tor·pe·doed, tor·pe·do·ing, tor·pe·does

To attack, strike, or sink with a torpedo.
To destroy decisively; wreck: torpedo efforts at reform.

[Latin torpēdō, numbness; electric ray, crampfish, from torpēre, to be stiff; see ster-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

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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Torpedo

Tor*pe"do\, n. An automobile with a torpedo body. [Cant]

Torpedo

Tor*pe"do\, n.; pl. Torpedoes. [L. torpedo, -inis, from torpere to be stiff, numb, or torpid. See Torpid.]

1. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of elasmobranch fishes belonging to Torpedo and allied genera. They are related to the rays, but have the power of giving electrical shocks. Called also crampfish, and numbfish. See Electrical fish, under Electrical.

Note: The common European torpedo (T. vulgaris) and the American species (T. occidentalis) are the best known.

2. An engine or machine for destroying ships by blowing them up. Specifically: (a) A quantity of explosives anchored in a channel, beneath the water, or set adrift in a current, and so arranged that they will be exploded when touched by a vessel, or when an electric circuit is closed by an operator on shore. (b) A kind of small submarine boat carrying an explosive charge, and projected from a ship against another ship at a distance, or made self-propelling, and otherwise automatic in its action against a distant ship.

3. (Mil.) A kind of shell or cartridge buried in earth, to be exploded by electricity or by stepping on it.

4. (Railroad) A kind of detonating cartridge or shell placed on a rail, and exploded when crushed under the locomotive wheels, -- used as an alarm signal.

5. An explosive cartridge or shell lowered or dropped into a bored oil well, and there exploded, to clear the well of obstructions or to open communication with a source of supply of oil.

6. A kind of firework in the form of a small ball, or pellet, which explodes when thrown upon a hard object.

Fish torpedo, a spindle-shaped, or fish-shaped, self-propelling submarine torpedo.

Spar torpedo, a canister or other vessel containing an explosive charge, and attached to the end of a long spar which projects from a ship or boat and is thrust against an enemy's ship, exploding the torpedo.

Torpedo boat, a vessel adapted for carrying, launching, operating, or otherwise making use of, torpedoes against an enemy's ship.

Torpedo nettings, nettings made of chains or bars, which can be suspended around a vessel and allowed to sink beneath the surface of the water, as a protection against torpedoes.

Torpedo

Tor*pe"do\, v. t. to destroy by, or subject to the action of, a torpedo. --London Spectator.

Language Translation for : torpedo

Spanish: torpedo,

German: der Torpedo,

Japanese: 魚雷

More Translations »

torpedo

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.

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