What does torpedo mean?
Definitions for torpedo
tɔrˈpi doʊtor·pe·do
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word torpedo.
Princeton's WordNet
gunman, gunslinger, hired gun, gun, gun for hire, triggerman, hit man, hitman, torpedo, shooternoun
a professional killer who uses a gun
bomber, grinder, hero, hero sandwich, hoagie, hoagy, Cuban sandwich, Italian sandwich, poor boy, sub, submarine, submarine sandwich, torpedo, wedge, zepnoun
a large sandwich made of a long crusty roll split lengthwise and filled with meats and cheese (and tomato and onion and lettuce and condiments); different names are used in different sections of the United States
torpedonoun
an explosive device that is set off in an oil well (or a gas well) to start or to increase the flow of oil (or gas)
torpedonoun
a small firework that consists of a percussion cap and some gravel wrapped in paper; explodes when thrown forcefully against a hard surface
torpedonoun
a small explosive device that is placed on a railroad track and fires when a train runs over it; the sound of the explosion warns the engineer of danger ahead
torpedonoun
armament consisting of a long cylindrical self-propelled underwater projectile that detonates on contact with a target
electric ray, crampfish, numbfish, torpedoverb
any sluggish bottom-dwelling ray of the order Torpediniformes having a rounded body and electric organs on each side of the head capable of emitting strong electric discharges
torpedoverb
attack or hit with torpedoes
Wiktionary
torpedonoun
A cylindrical explosive projectile that can travel underwater and is used as a weapon.
torpedonoun
A fish having wings that generate electric current, a kind of electric ray.
torpedonoun
A submarine sandwich.
torpedonoun
A naval mine.
torpedonoun
An explosive device buried underground and set off remotely, to destroy fortifications, troops, or cavalry; a land torpedo
torpedonoun
A professional gunman or assassin.
torpedonoun
a small explosive device attached to the top of the rail to provide an audible warning when a train passes over it
torpedoverb
To send a torpedo, usually from a submarine, that explodes below the waterline of the target ship.
torpedoverb
To sink a ship with one of more torpedoes.
torpedoverb
To undermine or destroy any endeavor with a stealthy, powerful attack.
Etymology: From torpedo, from torpedo, from torpeo and -do.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
TORPEDOnoun
A fish which while alive, if touched even with a long stick, benumbs the hand that so touches it, but when dead is eaten safely.
Etymology: Lat.
Wikipedia
Torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such a device was called an automotive, automobile, locomotive, or fish torpedo; colloquially a fish. The term torpedo originally applied to a variety of devices, most of which would today be called mines. From about 1900, torpedo has been used strictly to designate a self-propelled underwater explosive device. While the 19th-century battleship had evolved primarily with a view to engagements between armored warships with large-caliber guns, the invention and refinement of torpedoes from the 1860s onwards allowed small torpedo boats and other lighter surface vessels, submarines/submersibles, even improvised fishing boats or frogmen, and later light aircraft, to destroy large ships without the need of large guns, though sometimes at the risk of being hit by longer-range artillery fire. One can divide modern torpedoes into lightweight and heavyweight classes; and into straight-running, autonomous homers, and wire-guided types. They can be launched from a variety of platforms.
ChatGPT
torpedo
A torpedo is a self-propelled underwater missile equipped with an explosive, designed to be fired from a submarine or other naval vessel, mainly intended to destroy ships or submarines. It can also refer to devices used to detonate undersea resources like oil or gas.
Webster Dictionary
Torpedonoun
any one of numerous species of elasmobranch fishes belonging to Torpedo and allied genera. They are related to the rays, but have the power of giving electrical shocks. Called also crampfish, and numbfish. See Electrical fish, under Electrical
Torpedonoun
an engine or machine for destroying ships by blowing them up
Torpedonoun
a quantity of explosives anchored in a channel, beneath the water, or set adrift in a current, and so arranged that they will be exploded when touched by a vessel, or when an electric circuit is closed by an operator on shore
Torpedonoun
a kind of small submarine boat carrying an explosive charge, and projected from a ship against another ship at a distance, or made self-propelling, and otherwise automatic in its action against a distant ship
Torpedonoun
a kind of shell or cartridge buried in earth, to be exploded by electricity or by stepping on it
Torpedonoun
a kind of detonating cartridge or shell placed on a rail, and exploded when crushed under the locomotive wheels, -- used as an alarm signal
Torpedonoun
an explosive cartridge or shell lowered or dropped into a bored oil well, and there exploded, to clear the well of obstructions or to open communication with a source of supply of oil
Torpedonoun
a kind of firework in the form of a small ball, or pellet, which explodes when thrown upon a hard object
Torpedoverb
to destroy by, or subject to the action of, a torpedo
Wikidata
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with its target or in proximity to it. Historically, it was called an automotive, automobile, locomotive or fish torpedo; colloquially called a fish. The term torpedo was originally employed for a variety of devices, most of which would today be called mines. From about 1900, torpedo has been used strictly to designate an underwater self-propelled weapon. The original torpedo is a kind of fish: an electric ray. While the battleship had evolved primarily around engagements between armoured ships with large-caliber guns, the torpedo allowed torpedo boats and other lighter surface ships, submersibles, even ordinary fishing boats or frogmen, and later, aircraft, to destroy large armoured ships without the need of large guns, though sometimes at the risk of being hit by longer-range shellfire. Today's torpedoes can be divided into lightweight and heavyweight classes; and into straight-running, autonomous homers, and wire-guided. They can be launched from a variety of platforms.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Torpedo
tor-pē′do, n. a genus of cartilaginous fishes of family Torpedinidæ, related to the skates and rays, with electric organs on each side of the head, giving an electric shock when touched so as to produce torpor or numbness, the cramp-fish: a submarine weapon of offence, carrying a charge of gun-cotton or other explosive, and possessing powers of locomotion—in distinction to a submarine mine, which is stationary and used for defensive purposes:—pl. Torpē′does.—v.t. to attack with torpedoes, to explode a torpedo in or under.—adj. Torped′inous.—ns. Torpē′do-boat, a small swift steamer from which torpedoes are discharged; Torpē′do-boom, a spar for carrying a torpedo, projecting from a boat or anchored in a channel; Torpē′do-catch′er, a swift vessel for capturing torpedo-boats; Torpē′doist, one skilled in the management of torpedoes; Torpē′do-net, a net of wire hung at some distance round a ship to intercept torpedoes. [L.,—torpēre, to be stiff.]
U.S. National Library of Medicine
Torpedo
A genus of the Torpedinidae family consisting of several species. Members of this family have powerful electric organs and are commonly called electric rays.
Dictionary of Nautical Terms
torpedo
A cartilaginous fish allied to the rays, furnished with electrical organs, by means of which it is able to give powerful shocks. Also, a contrivance for blowing up ships of war by means of a submerged apparatus.
Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
torpedo
During the war between Great Britain and the United States in 1812-14, this name was applied to certain mysterious boats invented by Fulton and other Americans for the purpose of navigating beneath the surface of the water, and injuring the bottom of hostile vessels. In those days of hand-to-hand naval war, these designs (which, by the way, were failures) were looked upon as little less than diabolical. The progress of destructive weapons during half a century has removed this aversion, and nations do not scruple now to employ similar unseen agents for offense and defense. The modern torpedo is really a stationary bomb-shell, intended to explode under the bottom of an enemy’s ship. The weapon was first used by the Russians in the Baltic in 1854; and in the American war of Secession, 1861-65, it was employed extensively, and often successfully. The damage effected by a torpedo exploding beneath a ship is very great; and although the failures are frequent by the explosion happening at a wrong moment, the danger from torpedoes is considerable in fact, and far more in apprehension, for sailors naturally dread navigating waters where destruction lurks at unknown points concealed from view. There are several varieties of torpedoes, but they may be divided into two classes,—those which are self-explosive on a ship touching them, and those which are dependent on an electric current supplied from the shore. The second are the safest for friendly vessels; but they are rather uncertain in action, and can only be employed at a moderate distance from the shore. The first are more certain in action, as they can only explode on a ship, being somewhere in contact, but they attack indiscriminately friend and foe.
Suggested Resources
torpedo
Song lyrics by torpedo -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by torpedo on the Lyrics.com website.
Anagrams for torpedo »
optrode
pet door
trooped
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of torpedo in Chaldean Numerology is: 1
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of torpedo in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3
Examples of torpedo in a Sentence
When I questioned and ultimately helped torpedo his nomination of the supremely unqualified Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, the Bush White House made it clear they wouldn’t ever deal with me again, you can never go against the Family.
What we see here is torpedo damage.
There are complicating factors in connection with the negotiations that are ongoing, in part that involve some of the law enforcement organizations at the national level trying to torpedo the progress that has been made. And that’s quite unfortunate because we can’t have a situation where a genuine bipartisan effort to achieve police accountability, it’s actually written by those police organizations that we’re trying to hold accountable — that makes zero sense. And so this is an obstacle and a stumbling block, but not an unsurprising one, because we always knew that it would exist and I still believe that it can be overcome as part of the effort to transform policing in America.
The latest version of the Mk 48 ADCAP (advanced capability) is the mod 7 Common Broadband Advanced Sonar System. The Mk 48 ADCAP mod 7 CBASS torpedo is the result of a Joint Development Program with the Royal Australian Navy and achieved initial operational capability in 2006.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer:
There are forces within Iran for which the policies of the country's president and foreign minister are a thorn in the eye, they may be trying, one way or another, to undermine or torpedo the nuclear deal and the normalization of relations between us and Iran. We are watching this closely.
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References
Translations for torpedo
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- torpedinar, torpedeCatalan, Valencian
- torpédoCzech
- Zitterrochen, Torpedo, torpedierenGerman
- τορπιλίζωGreek
- torpedo, raya eléctrica, torpedearSpanish
- اژدرPersian
- sähkörausku, torpedoFinnish
- torpilleFrench
- torpedó, zsibbasztó rájaHungarian
- tundurskeytiIcelandic
- torpedine, silurareItalian
- 魚雷Japanese
- 魚雷, 어뢰Korean
- tōpītoMāori
- torpedoMalay
- torpedaPolish
- torpedear, torpedoPortuguese
- электрический скат, торпеда, торпедо, торпедироватьRussian
- torpedera, torpedSwedish
- torpidoTurkish
- ngư lôi, 魚雷Vietnamese
- torpeodülem, hitorpeod, jitorpeod, torpedön, torped, torpeodül, torpeodVolapük
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"torpedo." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/torpedo>.
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