Jump To:

• bombardier
  bombardier

  noun

  the member of a bombing plane crew who operates the bombsight and bomb-release mechanism.
• Bombardier
  Bombardier

  a snowmobilelike vehicle driven by an internal-combustion engine, equipped with caterpillar tracks at the rear, steered by skis at the front, and designed for travel over snow.

bombardier

¹ American  

[bom-ber-deer, -buh-] / ˌbɒm bərˈdɪər, -bə- /

noun

1. Military. the member of a bombing plane crew who operates the bombsight and bomb-release mechanism.

2. History/Historical. artilleryman.

---

Bombardier ² American  

[bom-ber-deer, -buh-, bom-bahr-dyey] / ˌbɒm bərˈdɪər, -bə-, ˌbɒm bɑrˈdjeɪ /

Trademark, Canadian.

1. a snowmobilelike vehicle driven by an internal-combustion engine, equipped with caterpillar tracks at the rear, steered by skis at the front, and designed for travel over snow.

---

bombardier ¹ British  

/ ˌbɒmbəˈdɪə /

noun

1. the member of a bomber aircrew responsible for aiming and releasing the bombs

2. a noncommissioned rank below the rank of sergeant in the Royal Artillery

3. Also called: bombardier beetle.  any of various small carabid beetles of the genus Brachinus , esp B. crepitans of Europe, which defend themselves by ejecting a jet of volatile fluid

---

Bombardier ² British  

/ ˌbɒmbəˈdɪə /

noun

1. a snow tractor, typically having caterpillar tracks at the rear and skis at the front

---

Etymology

Origin of bombardier¹

From Middle French, dating back to 1550–60; see origin at bombard, -ier ²

Origin of Bombardier²

First recorded in 1945–50; after Canadian inventor and industrialist Armand Bombardier (died 1964), who designed it

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bombardier Bombardier

Air Force tasked Edward Ruppelt, a wartime bombardier, with gathering and analyzing pilots’ reports for a program called Project Blue Book.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Dana Andrews is a decorated bombardier who returns to the same soda fountain job he held before the war, discovering that military heroism doesn’t necessarily translate into peacetime opportunity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

Charles V. Carlson, a badly wounded bombardier whose B-17 Flying Fortress had been shot down over Stambruges, Belgium, in October 1943.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 24, 2022

His bombardier and first real friend in the service, Danny Shapiro, was later shot down on another plane and held as a prisoner of war for a year.

From New York Times ● Dec. 17, 2021

As a lead bombardier again, Yossarian had McWatt for a pilot, and that was one consolation, although he was still so utterly undefended.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

Lance Bombardier Ciara Sullivan should been riding this year in Trooping the Colour.

From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026

Moscow’s Vnukovo airport is home to a sleek white Bombardier Global 7500—a $75 million Western-built jet that caters to the world’s wealthy and business elites.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026

European brokers and aircraft-management firms often acquire Bombardier and Gulfstream jets by purchasing them secondhand from other companies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026

The company’s website states that the Garden Grove facility manufactures F-35 canopies, as well as transparent windows for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 737, the Airbus A350, HondaJet and Bombardier C-Series.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026

Not the Bombardier, as you might think, but Bert Wells.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 159, December 22, 1920 by Sir Owen Seaman