napalm

American  

[ney-pahm] / ˈneɪ pɑm /

noun

1. a highly incendiary jellylike substance used in fire bombs, flamethrowers, etc.

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verb (used with object)

1. to drop bombs containing napalm on (troops, a city, or the like).

napalm British  

/ ˈneɪpɑːm, ˈnæ- /

noun

1. a thick and highly incendiary liquid, usually consisting of petrol gelled with aluminium soaps, used in firebombs, flame-throwers, etc

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verb

1. (tr) to attack with napalm

napalm Scientific  

/ nā′päm′ /

1. A firm jelly made by mixing gasoline with aluminum salts (made of fatty acids). It is used in some bombs and in flamethrowers. Napalm was developed during World War II.

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Etymology

Origin of napalm

An Americanism dating back to 1940–45; na(phthene) + palm(itate)

Example Sentences

He only had a few minutes of screen time but his famous line in Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 classic, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning", became legendary.

From BBC

First, they attempted peaceful tactics, such as a pressure campaign to halt the manufacture of napalm.

From Los Angeles Times

Within a decade of the 1975 fall of Saigon, he reported, one of his students heard a reference to the incendiary chemical notoriously used as a weapon in Vietnam and “innocently asked what napalm was.”

From Washington Post

Spicy Chicken Sandwich has napalm aioli, spicy pickles and is served on a soft potato bun.

From Los Angeles Times

But Mr. Saotome said the firebombing of Tokyo, using a jellied petroleum prototype of what would become napalm, fell from memory in the wider world.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• ammo
• armament
• bomb
• bullet
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• materiel
• missile
• munition
• rocket
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• torpedo