Adjacent Words

Grenade definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

GRENA'DE, n. In the art of war, a hollow ball or shell of iron or other metal, about two inches and a half in diameter, to be filled with powder which is to be fired by means of a fusee,and thrown by hand among enemies. This, bursting into many pieces, does great injury, and is particularly useful in annoying an enemy in trenches and other lodgments.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a small explosive bomb thrown by hand or fired from a missile

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle French, literally, pomegranate, from Late Latin granata, from Latin, feminine of granatus seedy, from granum grain — more at corn Date: 1591 a small missile that contains an explosive or a chemical agent (as tear gas, a flame producer, or a smoke producer) and that is thrown by hand or projected (as by a rifle or special launcher)

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a small bomb thrown by hand (hand-grenade) or shot from a rifle. 2 a glass receptacle containing chemicals which disperse on impact, for testing drains, extinguishing fires, etc. Etymology: F f. OF grenate and Sp. granada POMEGRANATE

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Grenade Gre*nade", n. [F. grenade a pomegranate, a grenade, or Sp. granada; orig., filled with seeds. So called from the resemblance of its shape to a pomegranate. See Carnet, Grain a kernel, and cf. Pomegranate.] (Min.) A hollow ball or shell of iron filled with powder of other explosive, ignited by means of a fuse, and thrown from the hand among enemies. Hand grenade. (a) A small grenade of iron or glass, usually about two and a half inches in diameter, to be thrown from the hand into the head of a sap, trenches, covered way, or upon besiegers mounting a breach. (b) A portable fire extinguisher consisting of a glass bottle containing water and gas. It is thrown into the flames. Called also fire grenade. Rampart grenades, grenades of various sizes, which, when used, are rolled over the pararapet in a trough.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(grenades) A grenade or a hand grenade is a small bomb that can be thrown by hand. A hand grenade was thrown at an army patrol. N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

aerial bomb, antipersonnel bomb, bomb, bombshell, carcass, concussion grenade, depth bomb, depth charge, fire bomb, gas grenade, hand grenade, incendiary bomb, incendiary grenade, infernal machine, petard, tear-gas grenade, time bomb, wall grenade