bomb: Meaning and Definition of

bomb

Pronunciation: (bom), [key]
— n.
  1. a projectile, formerly usually spherical, filled with a bursting charge and exploded by means of a fuze, by impact, or otherwise, now generally designed to be dropped from an aircraft.
  2. any similar missile or explosive device used as a weapon, to disperse crowds, etc.: a time bomb; a smoke bomb.
  3. a rough spherical or ellipsoidal mass of lava, ejected from a volcano and hardened while falling.
  4. See
  5. a long forward pass, esp. one to a teammate who scores a touchdown.
  6. The play was a bomb and closed after two performances.
    1. an absolute failure; fiasco:The play was a bomb and closed after two performances.
    2. Chiefly Brit.an overwhelming success:The novel is selling like a bomb.
  7. a sudden, unexpected accent or rhythmic figure played by a drummer during a performance.
  8. a lead or lead-lined container for transporting and storing radioactive materials.
    1. Seeatomic bomb.
    2. nuclear weapons collectively.
  9. a spectacular program or system failure.
  10. a powerful automobile or other vehicle.
—v.t.
  1. to hurl bombs at or drop bombs upon, as from an airplane; bombard: The enemy planes bombed the city.
  2. to explode by means of a bomb or explosive.
  3. to deliberately cause (a computer system) to fail with a program written for the purpose.
—v.i.
  1. to hurl or drop bombs.
  2. to explode a bomb or bombs.
  3. to be or make a complete failure, esp. to fail to please or gain an audience; flop (sometimes fol. by out): His last play bombed on Broadway. The business bombed out with a $25,000 debt.
  4. (of a computer program or system) to fail spectacularly.
  5. to move very quickly:a.m. They came bombing through here on their motorcycles at 2
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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