Mills bomb

British  

/ mɪlz /

noun

1. a type of high-explosive hand grenade

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Etymology

Origin of Mills bomb

C20: named after Sir William Mills (1856–1932), English inventor

Example Sentences

The Mills bomb grenade was first developed during World War One in 1915, and became the first hand grenade to be issued on a large scale in Britain.

From BBC • May 28, 2022

Methods of throwing them also improved: the catapult succeeded to some extent the hand-throwers, the Mills bomb on a steel rod, fired from a rifle, supplanted the catapult.

From Time Magazine Archive

Clearing the trench outside his Company Headquarters, at the junction of "Horse" and "Hell" Alleys, he put his pick clean through a Mills bomb; fortunately it did not explode.

From The Fifth Leicestershire A Record Of The 1/5th Battalion The Leicestershire Regiment, T.F., During The War, 1914-1919. by Hills, John David

The leading bombing party, which Bennett sent forward under Sergeant Hinton, quickly succeeded in reaching the German parapet and was doing well, when a Mills bomb, dropped or inaccurately thrown, fell amongst the men.

From The Story of the 2/4th Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry by Rose, Geoffrey Keith

When the powers that be realized that they could not change Tommy, they decided to change the type of bomb and did so—substituting the "hair brush," the "cricket-ball," and later the Mills bomb.

From Over the Top by Empey, Arthur Guy