Military. the member of a bombing plane crew who operates the bombsight and bomb-release mechanism.
History/Historical. artilleryman.
the member of a bomber aircrew responsible for aiming and releasing the bombs
a noncommissioned rank below the rank of sergeant in the Royal Artillery
Also called: bombardier beetle. any of various small carabid beetles of the genus Brachinus , esp B. crepitans of Europe, which defend themselves by ejecting a jet of volatile fluid
From Middle French, dating back to 1550–60; see origin at bombard, -ier 2
First recorded in 1945–50; after Canadian inventor and industrialist Armand Bombardier (died 1964), who designed it
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Robert spent 10 years in the Royal Horse Artillery after signing up in 2006, working as an artilleryman firing guns and then being promoted to bombardier.
From BBC • Sep. 22, 2025
Charles V. Carlson, a badly wounded bombardier whose B-17 Flying Fortress had been shot down over Stambruges, Belgium, in October 1943.
From Washington Post • Feb. 24, 2022
His bombardier and first real friend in the service, Danny Shapiro, was later shot down on another plane and held as a prisoner of war for a year.
From New York Times • Dec. 17, 2021
The bombardier stood or knelt down at the nose of the plane and was in charge of releasing the bombs.
From Fox News • Sep. 16, 2021
And to prove to Yossarian that they bore him no animosity, they even assigned him to fly lead bombardier with McWatt in the first formation when they went back to Bologna the next day.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
