bunker buster

American  

[buhng-ker buhs-ter] / ˈbʌŋ kər ˌbʌs tər /

Or bunker-buster

noun

1. a laser-guided bomb designed to penetrate deep underground, as into rock or concrete, before detonating.

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Etymology

Origin of bunker buster

First recorded in 1930–35 in the sense of a golfer; current sense dates from 1945–50

Example Sentences

Brewer, the nuclear proliferation expert, added that Iran would probably opt to hide new facilities even deeper underground to defend against U.S. “bunker buster” attacks.

From Los Angeles Times

On Tuesday, a classified report by the Pentagon’s intelligence branch, the Defense Intelligence Agency, assessed that U.S. strikes, which dropped 14 30,000-pound “bunker buster” bombs and fired Tomahawk missiles over the weekend on Iranian nuclear installations in Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan, failed to destroy core components of Iran’s nuclear program and that any setback would be a matter of a few months.

From Los Angeles Times

Kim Dong-yup believes that North Korea’s enrichment facilities are much deeper than Iran’s and potentially beyond the range of the “bunker buster” bombs — officially known as the GBU-57 A/B — used Sunday.

From Los Angeles Times

But evidence of the full scope of the strikes will take time to assess - with more footage needed to see how deep underground the bunker buster bombs were able to penetrate at the key nuclear sites.

From BBC

Only the US was considered to have a "bunker buster" bomb strong and large enough to destroy Fordo.

From BBC