bazooka
Americannoun
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:
They wanted to be a bazooka, but so far they're positively popgun.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
The bazooka was designed as a deterrent—and it seems to have deterred.
From Slate ● Jan. 23, 2026
Referred to as a "bazooka" or "nuclear" option, the instrument is intended to deter economic coercion against any of the EU's 27 member states.
From Barron's ● Jan. 19, 2026
The college game isn’t as simple as getting a money bazooka and showering a fancy name.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2025
Maybe she didn't need a bazooka after all.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
The game, set in a fantasy world with several kingdoms at war over the control of magic, abandons the tried-and-true formula of arming players with an arsenal of guns and bazookas.
From New York Times ● Aug. 22, 2023
"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
“I didn’t ask for bazookas, tanks and flamethrowers,” he said.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 26, 2018
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.
