torpedo

[tawr-pee-doh]

noun

plural

torpedoes 

1. a self-propelled, cigar-shaped missile containing explosives and often equipped with a homing device, launched from a submarine or other warship, for destroying surface vessels or other submarines.

2. any of various submarine explosive devices for destroying hostile ships, as a mine.

3. a cartridge of gunpowder, dynamite, or the like, exploded in an oil well to facilitate the extraction of oil from the well.

4. a detonating device fastened to the top of a rail so as to be exploded by the pressure of a locomotive or car, thus giving an audible signal to members of a train crew.

5. any of various other explosive devices, as a firework that consists of an explosive wrapped up with gravel in a piece of tissue paper and that detonates when thrown forcibly on the ground or against a hard surface.

6. Also called torpedo fish. an electric ray, especially Torpedo nobiliana, of the Atlantic Ocean.

7. an electric catfish, Malapterurus electricus, inhabiting waters of tropical central Africa and the Nile valley.

8. Informal.,  a hero sandwich.

9. Slang.,  a gangster hired as a murderer.

verb (used with object)

torpedoed, torpedoing 

1. to attack, hit, damage, or destroy with torpedoes.

2. to explode a torpedo in (an oil well) to facilitate the extraction of oil.

3. to undermine, ruin, or destroy.

   He torpedoed our plans.

verb (used without object)

torpedoed, torpedoing 

1. to attack, damage, or sink a ship with torpedoes.

torpedo

/ tɔːˈpiːdəʊ /

noun

1. a cylindrical self-propelled weapon carrying explosives that is launched from aircraft, ships, or submarines and follows an underwater path to hit its target

2. obsolete,  a submarine mine

3. a firework containing gravel and a percussion cap that explodes when dashed against a hard surface

4. a detonator placed on a railway line as a danger signal

5. any of various electric rays of the genus Torpedo

verb

1. to hit (a ship, etc) with one or a number of torpedoes

2. to render ineffective; destroy or wreck

   to torpedo the administration's plan

Other Word Forms

• torpedolike adjective
• untorpedoed adjective
• torpedo-like adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of torpedo¹

1510–20; < Latin torpēdō numbness, torpidity, electric ray, equivalent to torpē ( re ) to be stiff ( torpid ¹ ) + -dō noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of torpedo¹

C16: from Latin: crampfish (whose electric discharges can cause numbness), from torpēre to be inactive; see _torpid

Example Sentences

On December 7, 1941, Japanese kamikaze fighter planes, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

Read more on Literature

The “torpedo” would be drawn against the ship and explode.

Read more on Literature

The drone, capable of carrying payloads including torpedoes, is expected to reach production by the end of 2028.

Read more on Barron's

If they torpedo the subsidies, health coverage premiums could rocket for millions of people, handing Democrats a ready-made campaign issue for next year's midterm elections.

Read more on BBC

U-boats, Mr. Moorhouse tells us, were also plagued by malfunctioning torpedoes, mechanical failures and, eventually, the incessant—and often successful—depth-charge attacks of Allied warships.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• batter 
• decimate 
• demolish 
• destroy 
• devastate 
• impair 
• injure 
• mangle 
• mar 
• ravage 
• raze 
• ruin 
• sabotage 
• shatter 
• sink 
• smash 
• spoil 
• trash 
• undermine 
• vandalize