torpedo

American  

[tawr-pee-doh] / tɔrˈpi doʊ /

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 British  

/ 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

Regionalisms

See hero sandwich.

Other Word Forms

• torpedo-like adjective
• torpedolike adjective
• untorpedoed adjective

Etymology

Origin of torpedo

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

Explanation

A torpedo is a type of missile or bomb fired underwater. To torpedo is to attack with torpedoes. Torpedoes are cigar-shaped projectiles that are used to attack other submarines or boats. The word torpedo comes from the name of a kind of electric ray that numbs you with its sting (torpediniformes). Torpedoes can also be used to attack a target on land. When a submarine fires torpedoes, they're torpedoing the target. Torpedoes explode upon impact, and they're very powerful weapons.

Example Sentences

“The first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II. Like in that war back when we were still the War Department, we are fighting to win.”

From Barron's • Mar. 6, 2026

Sri Lanka on Friday denounced the toll of the Mideast fighting, as the nation opened its arms to over 200 Iranian sailors who sought help after a deadly torpedo strike on another of Iran's ships.

From Barron's • Mar. 6, 2026

He said it was the first time a U.S. torpedo had sunk an enemy ship since World War II.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026

He said the ship was sunk by a torpedo on Tuesday, and that it died a "quiet death".

From BBC • Mar. 4, 2026

American planes took off from nearby aircraft carriers and made sixty-four sorties over North Vietnam, bombing their torpedo boat fleet and a major oil depot.

From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge

Related Words

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