bombe

¹ American  

[bom, bomb, bawnb] / bɒm, bɒmb, bɔ̃b /

noun

plural

bombes

1. a round or melon-shaped frozen mold made from a combination of ice creams, mousses, or ices.

---

bombé ² American  

[bom-bey, bawn-bey] / bɒmˈbeɪ, bɔ̃ˈbeɪ /

adjective

Furniture.

1. curving or swelling outward.

---

bombe ¹ British  

/ bɒmb /

noun

1. Also called: bombe glacée.  a dessert of ice cream lined or filled with custard, cake crumbs, etc

2. a mould shaped like a bomb in which this dessert is made

---

bombé ² British  

/ bɔ̃be, bɒmˈbeɪ /

adjective

1. (of furniture) having a projecting swollen shape

---

Etymology

Origin of bombe¹

1890–95; < French: literally, bomb, from its shape

Origin of bombé²

1900–05; < French: literally, rounded like a bomb ( bombe bomb + -é adj. suffix < Latin -ātus -ate ¹ )

Example Sentences

She's also precise, save for the odd bombe thrown her way.

From Salon • Nov. 19, 2022

Swedish Chef: Julia Child: My food’s la bombe and yours is flawed.

From Washington Post • Apr. 2, 2020

During World War II Turing worked at the secret Bletchley Park code-breaking center, where he helped crack Nazi Germany's secret codes by creating the "Turing bombe," a forerunner of modern computers.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 15, 2019

She operated an electro-mechanical machine , known as a "bombe," to decipher signals the German armed forces sent out from its sophisticated Enigma encryption machines.

From Fox News • Sep. 25, 2018

“It was Welchman’s insight to add those cross wires. Lets the bombe check more combinations at once.”

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin