torpedo
Americannoun
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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.
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any of various submarine explosive devices for destroying hostile ships, as a mine.
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a cartridge of gunpowder, dynamite, or the like, exploded in an oil well to facilitate the extraction of oil from the well.
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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.
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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.
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Also called torpedo fish. an electric ray, especially Torpedo nobiliana, of the Atlantic Ocean.
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an electric catfish, Malapterurus electricus, inhabiting waters of tropical central Africa and the Nile valley.
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Informal. a hero sandwich.
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Slang. a gangster hired as a murderer.
verb (used with object)
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to attack, hit, damage, or destroy with torpedoes.
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to explode a torpedo in (an oil well) to facilitate the extraction of oil.
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to undermine, ruin, or destroy.
He torpedoed our plans.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a cylindrical self-propelled weapon carrying explosives that is launched from aircraft, ships, or submarines and follows an underwater path to hit its target
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obsolete a submarine mine
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a firework containing gravel and a percussion cap that explodes when dashed against a hard surface
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a detonator placed on a railway line as a danger signal
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any of various electric rays of the genus Torpedo
verb
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to hit (a ship, etc) with one or a number of torpedoes
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to render ineffective; destroy or wreck
to torpedo the administration's plan
Regionalisms
See hero sandwich.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have torpedoedperfect
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has torpedoedperfect 3rd person singular
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has been torpedoingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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am torpedoingprogressive 1st person singular
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are torpedoingprogressive
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is torpedoingprogressive 3rd person singular
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torpedoessingular 3rd person
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have been torpedoingperfect progressive
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torpedoingparticiple
Past
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had torpedoedperfect
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were torpedoingprogressive plural
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was torpedoingprogressive singular
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torpedoedsimple
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torpedoedparticiple
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had been torpedoingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of torpedo
1510–20; < Latin torpēdō numbness, torpidity, electric ray, equivalent to torpē ( re ) to be stiff ( see torpid 1) + -dō noun suffix
Explanation
A torpedo is a type of missile or bomb fired underwater. To torpedo is to attack with torpedoes. Torpedoes are cigar-shaped projectiles that are used to attack other submarines or boats. The word torpedo comes from the name of a kind of electric ray that numbs you with its sting (torpediniformes). Torpedoes can also be used to attack a target on land. When a submarine fires torpedoes, they're torpedoing the target. Torpedoes explode upon impact, and they're very powerful weapons.
Vocabulary lists containing torpedo
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Work on another nuclear-powered missile, the Burevestnik, and a nuclear-powered torpedo was "in its final stages", Putin asserted.
From BBC • May 12, 2026
If your goal is to save money on taxes, detonating the tax torpedo is not ideal.
From MarketWatch • May 8, 2026
There are training bats, wood bats, torpedo bats and backpacks to carry them.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 14, 2026
“The first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II. Like in that war back when we were still the War Department, we are fighting to win.”
From Barron's • Mar. 6, 2026
“Not a one. No boat, no boat wakes, no ricochets off boats, no boat gunfire, no torpedo wakes.”
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
