torpedo
Americannoun
-
torpedoes
plural
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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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torpedoes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
torpedoed,
past participle, past
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torpedoing
present participle
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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)
-
torpedoes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
torpedoed,
past participle, past
-
torpedoing
present participle
noun
-
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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
torpedosimple
-
torpedoessimple
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have torpedoedperfect
-
has torpedoedperfect
-
am torpedoingprogressive
-
are torpedoingprogressive
-
is torpedoingprogressive
-
have been torpedoingperfect progressive
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has been torpedoingperfect progressive
Past
-
torpedoedsimple
-
had torpedoedperfect
-
was torpedoingprogressive
-
were torpedoingprogressive
-
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.
See Examples For:
A veteran lawmaker who served 12 years in Congress, Bass has attempted to torpedo Raman’s image as a foe of the status quo, pointing out she’s been on the council for nearly six years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
What your former co-workers think of you could land you a job or torpedo your chances.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
See: Worried that big IPOs will torpedo the stock market?
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 11, 2026
Consider airlines, which ramp up capacity only to be left holding the luggage when fliers pull back or airfare wars torpedo profits.
From Barron's ● May 14, 2026
All ten Skyhawks had taken shots at the targets, and the torpedo boats were on fire.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
The USS Joseph P. Kennedy — a Gearing-class destroyer once equipped with Mark 32 torpedoes, anti-submarine missiles, and nuclear depth charges — has been decorated for Christmas.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2025
The extensive list of procurements ranged from missiles to artillery, torpedoes, armoured vehicles, satellite systems and new uniforms as Berlin races to overhaul the long-neglected Bundeswehr.
From Barron's ● Dec. 17, 2025
U-boats, Mr. Moorhouse tells us, were also plagued by malfunctioning torpedoes, mechanical failures and, eventually, the incessant—and often successful—depth-charge attacks of Allied warships.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
On X, where he has 4.7 million followers, he has channeled his pop-culture savvy and political outrage into a satirical sideshow, firing off punchlines like proton torpedoes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2025
When the zigzagging UFO comes he lays in a salvo of torpedoes only if the asteroid storm isn't too heavy.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
Trade talks broke down between Canada and the US last month, with both sides accusing the other of last-minute demands that torpedoed a tentative agreement.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
UniQure announced Wednesday that the agency will consider an accelerated approval for its Huntington’s disease gene therapy that had been torpedoed by prior leadership.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
Engine problems torpedoed his chances in the Coca-Cola 600, however, and he completed only 271 of 400 laps on the 1.5-mile track.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026
The US Navy had not torpedoed a ship since 1945.
From Barron's ● Mar. 6, 2026
But on that same day a Norwegian tanker, headed for Willemstad, was torpedoed off Curacao, and fear again swept over the old city.
From "The Cay" by Theodore Taylor
Perhaps the Rogers campaign is correct, and El-Sayed’s connection to the Twitch streamer will prove to be uniquely toxic, torpedoing his chances in the general.
From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2026
Indian strategic affairs expert Brahma Chellaney wrote on X that the US torpedoing of the Iranian warship in India's "maritime neighbourhood" was "more than a battlefield episode" - calling it a "strategic embarrassment" for Delhi.
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2026
The conflict even reached the coast of Sri Lanka, where a US submarine sank an Iranian warship, Washington's first torpedoing of a vessel since World War II.
From Barron's ● Mar. 5, 2026
“Although we sisters are supposed to be invisible, God has nevertheless given us eyes and ears,” she announces to a roomful of cardinals during an especially brutal torpedoing session.
From Salon ● Nov. 22, 2024
The first authentically known case of an attack without warning by a German submarine against an allied merchantman was the torpedoing of the French steamship Amiral Ganteaume on October 26, 1914, in the English Channel.
From Aircraft and Submarines The Story of the Invention, Development, and Present-Day Uses of War's Newest Weapons by Willis J. (Willis John) Abbot
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.
