bazooka
Americannoun
-
bazookas
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bazooka
An Americanism dating back to 1930–35; from its resemblance to a musical instrument so named, invented and played by comedian Bob Burns in the 1930s and 1940s
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:
But it’s not as extreme of an intervention as Mario Draghi’s “whatever it takes” pledge to preserve the euro or Ben Bernanke’s bazooka program in response to the collapse of Lehman Brothers, experts say.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026
He may also enjoy showing off his new tariff bazooka.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
The bazooka was designed as a deterrent—and it seems to have deterred.
From Slate ● Jan. 23, 2026
So even if the commission were to pull the trigger now, it could be a year before the bazooka is actually fired.
From BBC ● Jan. 19, 2026
He just wished the pockets were large enough for a chain saw, or maybe a bazooka.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
"We know the bandits have all those bazookas, rocket launchers… We didn't believe they have the technical know-how and capacity to use them," retired security official Mike Ejiofor told the Vanguard newspaper.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2021
The elated health minister, Mutahi Kagwe, said that the country had “been fighting this virus with rubber bullets,” but now had finally acquired the metaphorical equivalent of “machine guns, bazookas, and tanks.”
From New York Times ● Mar. 22, 2021
“The Fed went from bazookas that had mostly run out of ammo and skipped helicopters and went straight to the B-52s carpet bombing tons of cash on the financial markets and the economy,” Yardeni said.
From Washington Post ● May 8, 2020
When he joined the BOE’s rate-setting committee in 2006, he said, opportunities for linguistic ingenuity were scarce, “so bazookas or sledgehammers weren’t on the table.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2016
“I’d like to have some bazookas of my own, like the ones in Commando. That would be beautiful,” I said, and we laughed.
From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah
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.
