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torpedo

noun
/ˌtɔː(ɹ)ˈpiː.dəʊ/UK/ˌtoɹˈpi.doʊ/US

Etymology

* Borrowed from Latin torpēdō (“a torpedo fish; numbness, torpidity, electric ray”), from torpeō (“to be stiff, numb, torpid; to be astounded; to be inactive”) + -ēdō (noun suffix), from Proto-Indo-European *ster- (“stiff”). In the military sense coined by Robert Fulton in 1805. Cognate with Old English steorfan (“to die”), Ancient Greek στερεός (stereós, “solid”), Lithuanian tirpstu (“to become rigid”), Old Church Slavonic трупети (trupeti). * (type of car): From 1908, after "the Torpedo", a car designed by Captain Theo Masui.

  1. derived from *ster-✻
  2. borrowed from torpēdō

Definitions

  1. An electric ray of the genus Torpedo.

    • Faire Queene, forbeare to angle for the fiſh, / Which being caught, ſtrikes him that takes it dead, / I meane that vile Torpedo, Gaueſton, / That now I hope flotes on the Iriſh Seas
    • The man has been changed into an artificial monster by the station in which he is born, and the consequent homage that benumbed his faculties like the torpedo's touch […].
    • "A childhood Misadventure with a Torpedo," Dixon, with a brief move of his head toward Mason, confides, "— thus his Sensitivity at all References to the,"— whispering,— "electrickal!"

  2. A cylindrical explosive projectile that can travel quickly underwater and is used as a…

    A cylindrical explosive projectile that can travel quickly underwater and is used as a weapon.

    • I stood rigid, spellbound, watching the white wake of the torpedo. It struck us on the starboard side almost amidships. The vessel rocked as though the sea beneath it had been uptorn by a mighty volcano.

  3. A naval mine.

  4. ›+ 13 more definitions

    1. An explosive device buried underground, to destroy fortifications, troops, or cavalry.

    2. Synonym of submarine sandwich.

    3. A professional gunman or assassin.

    4. A small explosive device attached to the top of the rail to provide an audible warning…

      A small explosive device attached to the top of the rail to provide an audible warning when a train passes over it.

    5. A kind of firework in the form of a small ball, or pellet, which explodes when thrown…

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

    6. An automobile with a streamlined profile and a folding or detachable soft top, and having…

      An automobile with a streamlined profile and a folding or detachable soft top, and having the hood or bonnet line raised to be level with the car's waistline, resulting in a straight beltline from front to back.

    7. A focal ovoid swelling on the axons of Purkinje cells, observed in several diseases such…

      A focal ovoid swelling on the axons of Purkinje cells, observed in several diseases such as essential tremor and spinocerebellar ataxia.

    8. A woman's shoe with a pointed toe.

    9. A large breast

      A large breast; a breast with a large nipple.

    10. A marijuana cigarette.

    11. To strike (a ship) with one or more torpedoes.

    12. To sink (a ship) with one or more torpedoes.

    13. To undermine or destroy any endeavor with a powerful attack.

      • The decision (5-4) by the nine-member bench has torpedoed Srettha’s troubled government, which has failed to gain support in parliament and among the Thai public.

The neighborhood

Derived

Bangalore torpedo, land torpedo, neato torpedo, spar torpedo, torp, torpedo boat, torpedo body, torpedo bomber, torpedo boom, torpedo catcher, torpedo cruiser, torpedo juice, torpedoman, torpedo net, torpedo punt, torpedo ram, torpedo roll, torpedo stern, torpedo tube, Torpex

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for torpedo. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA