bomb

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

n. [bomb]shell; slang, flop (See failure). See arms.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

Syn. weapon, missile, high explosive, charge, bombshell, grenade; see also explosive , mine 2 , nuclear bomb , shell 2 .

Types of bombs include: incendiary, multiple warhead, nuclear warhead, magnesium, high explosive, demolition, glider, jet-propulsion, time, letter, pipe, smart, plastic, six-ton, chain detonation, smoke, delayed-action, cyanide, parachute, antipersonnel bomb; atom(ic) bomb or A-bomb, cobalt bomb or C-bomb, hydrogen bomb or H-bomb, neutron bomb, napalm bomb, rack of bombs, cluster bomb unit or CBU, salvo of bombs, torpedo, depth charge, cherry bomb, hand grenade; blockbuster*, ash can*, pineapple*, potato masher*, Molotov cocktail*, stink bomb*. v.

Syn. shell, bombard, torpedo, napalm, blow up, wipe out, subject to bombing runs, blast, attack from the air, zero in on*, rain destruction, raid, dive-bomb, skip-bomb, mass-bomb, precision-bomb, lay an egg*; see also attack 1 , destroy 1 .

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus)

I

n.

1. explosive charge, shell, missile, mine, grenade, projectile, depth charge, atom bomb, hydrogen bomb, *physics package, torpedo, incendiary, blockbuster, warhead, dud, *egg.

WORD FIND

• 15,000-pound bomb: BLU-82; [daisy cutter]

• 21,500-pound behomoth, [mother of all Bombs]: MOAB (Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb)

• antipersonnel mine with fanning fragmentation: claymore mine

• boom: report

• caves and tunnels, high pressure bombs used to flush out: thermobaric bomb

• explosive chemical used in bombs: TNT, trinitrotoluene, nitroglycerin

• explosive portion of bomb, missile, etc.: warhead

• fire-starting bomb: incendiary bomb

• fragmenting, shrapnel-producing bomb: fragmentation bomb, antipersonnel bomb

• fuel detonated in midair: fuel-air bomb

• gasoline-filled bottle stuffed with rag: Molotov cocktail

• guided bomb: smart bomb

• hole: crater

• intense bombing: saturation bombing, carpet bombing

• jelled gas incendiary: napalm

• lead pipe containing home-made charge: pipe bomb

• multiple bombs released from canister: cluster bomb

• penetrate earth and concrete, designed to: bunker buster, GBU-28 Penetrator

• puttylike substance holding charge: plastic explosive

• smoke-producing: smoke bomb

• stink-producing: stink bomb

• timed charge: time bomb

• unguided: dumb bomb

see air force, army, missile, nuclear bomb, war, weapon

2. flop failure, fiasco, disaster, *turkey, *dog, loser, *washout.

ANT.: 2. success, triumph, hit

II

v.

1. Sl. fail flop, fizzle, wash out, *die.

2. bombard shell, blow up, assault, blitz, pepper, barrage, strafe, *drop the big one, *blow to smithereens, *blow to kingdom come, *bomb back to the stone age, level, blast.

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) I noun Slang. One that fails completely: bust, failure, fiasco, loser, washout. Informal: dud, flop, lemon. See THRIVE. II verb Slang. To be unsuccessful: choke, fail, fall through. Informal: fall down, flop. Idioms: fail of success, fall short. See THRIVE.