shrapnel
Americannoun
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Military.
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a hollow projectile containing bullets or the like and a bursting charge, designed to explode before reaching the target, and to set free a shower of missiles.
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such projectiles collectively.
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shell fragments.
noun
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a projectile containing a number of small pellets or bullets exploded before impact
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such projectiles collectively
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fragments from this or any other type of shell
Etymology
Origin of shrapnel
1800–10; named after Henry Shrapnel (1761–1842), English army officer, its inventor
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The type of shrapnel bomb was "specific to IS attacks", the statement said.
From BBC
Makarem says the shrapnel lodged in her head, which cannot be removed surgically, made it hard for her to study at first.
From BBC
Doctors were unable to remove some of the shrapnel from his skull and he “will have to live with metal pieces there for the rest of my life,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times
Residents of the Ashrafiyeh neighbourhood, the first of two areas to fall to the Syrian army, began returning to their homes to inspect the damage, finding shrapnel and broken glass littering the streets.
From Barron's
They fought for the liberation of Italy, where Louis was hit by shrapnel and died in early 1944.
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.
