bomb

1 of 2

noun

ˈbäm How to pronounce bomb (audio)
Synonyms of bombnext
1
a
: an explosive device fused to detonate under specified conditions
b
: atomic bomb
also : nuclear weapons in general
—usually used with the
2
: a vessel for compressed gases: such as
a
: a pressure vessel for conducting chemical experiments
b
: a container for an aerosol (such as an insecticide) : spray can
3
: a rounded mass of lava exploded from a volcano
4
: a lead-lined container for radioactive material
5
: failure, flop
the play was a bomb
6
British : a large sum of money
7
a
British : a great success : hit
b
slang : one that is striking or extraordinary
—used with the
their new album is the bomb
8
a
: a long pass in football
b
: a very long shot (as in basketball)
shooting 3-point bombs
also : home run
9
: something unexpected and unpleasant
—often used with drop
dropped a bomb with her resignation

bomb

2 of 2

verb

bombed; bombing; bombs

transitive verb

1
: to attack with or as if with bombs : bombard
The planes successfully bombed their target.
a bombed village
2
a
: to defeat decisively
b
baseball : to score many runs against (a pitcher)
Allen tried a new slider pitch without success and was bombed in Cincinnati.—Jack Lang
3
: to hit (a ball, puck, or shot) very hard
bomb a home run
bomb a long drive down the fairway
4
slang : to fail (a test)
I bombed my history exam.

intransitive verb

1
informal : to fall flat : to fail completely
The movie bombed at the box office.
a joke that bombed
2
informal : to move rapidly
a car bombing down the hill
bombing noun
The city was subjected to heavy bombing during the war.
suicide bombings

Synonyms

Noun

Verb

See all Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus 

Examples of bomb in a Sentence

Noun A bomb went off downtown. Many bombs were dropped on the city during the war. They hid a bomb in the building. countries that have the bomb Verb The city was heavily bombed during the war. The planes flew 200 miles to bomb their target. The movie bombed at the box office. The play bombed on Broadway. He bombed at his first performance. I completely bombed my math exam. A car was bombing down the highway. teenagers bombing around in a convertible
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
In a post-nuclear wasteland, some survivors have been recreating their 1950s-era idyll underground in elaborate bomb shelters called vaults. —Nina Metz Chicago Tribune, Twin Cities, 26 Apr. 2024 Since then, Israel has dropped thousands of bombs in Gaza. —Rebecca Noel, Charlotte Observer, 25 Apr. 2024 See all Example Sentences for bomb 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bomb.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from Spanish or Italian bomba or French bombe, all probably in part from an onomatopoeic base bomb- (as in Greek bómbos "booming, humming," Old Norse bumba "drum," Lithuanian bambėti "to mutter, mumble," Albanian bumbullin "it is thundering"), in part back-formation from Medieval Latin bombardus or Middle French bombarde bombard entry 1

Note: The origin and transmission of bomba, bombe, etc., in the sense "explosive device, projectile, etc.," among European languages is not certain. Bomba is attested earliest in Spanish, appearing several times in the second half of the 16th century (canto 18 of La Araucana of Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga, the Descripción general de África of Luis del Mármol, the Historia de las cosas … del Gran Reyno de la China of Juan González de Mendoza). Mendoza's book (1585) is the source of an early and aberrant instance of bomb in English: his bombas de fuego is rendered as "bomes of fire" in Robert Parke's translation (The Historie of the Great and Mightie Kingdome of China, London, 1588, p. 65). Bomba is recorded as Italian in Antoine Oudin's Italian-French dictionary (Recherches italiennes et françoises, Paris, 1640), where it is glossed "bombe, ou balon de feu" ("bomb, or ball of fire"), though it is not recorded in an Italian text until 1686 (Paolo Segneri, Il cristiano instruito, Florence, p. 327); Oudin's gloss also apparently constitutes the first record in French. Significantly earlier than any of these is Latin bombus, which occurs twice in the Commentarii, an account of the exploits of the condottiere Jacopo Piccinino in 1452-53 by the Neapolitan humanist Giannantonio de' Pandone, "il Porcellio" (ca. 1405-85); Pandone's bombus appears to be some sort of exploding projectile ("Hic Tibertus Dux bombi fulmine in ulna sauciatur" - "Here Tibertus [the condottiere Tiberto Brandolini] was wounded in the forearm by the flash of a bombus"); the 18th-century lexicographer Du Cange, in Glossarium mediae et infimae Latinitatis, glosses bombus in this passage, alluding to French bombe, as pila incendiaria, "fireball." Spanish bomba in the sense "pump," attested from the early 16th century, is probably an independent formation; cf. pump entry 1.

Verb

derivative of bomb entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1662, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1688, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of bomb was in 1662

Phrases Containing bomb

Dictionary Entries Near bomb

Bomarea

bomb

bomba

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Bomb.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bomb. Accessed 3 May. 2024.

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Kids Definition

bomb

1 of 2 noun
ˈbäm How to pronounce bomb (audio)
1
a
: an explosive device that has a fuse and is designed to go off under any of various conditions
b
: atomic bomb
also : nuclear weapons in general
—usually used with the
2
: a container in which a substance (as an insecticide) is stored under pressure and from which it is released in a fine spray
3
: flop entry 2 sense 2

bomb

2 of 2 verb
1
: to attack with bombs
2
: to fail completely

More from Merriam-Webster on bomb

Nglish: Translation of bomb for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of bomb for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about bomb

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