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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

bomb.

An explosive device used or intended as a weapon, especially, one dropped from an aircraft.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/bɒm/Canada, Northern-England, Received-Pronunciation, Wales/bɔm/Australia, British, Scotland, Southern, Standard/bɑm/US/bʌm/obsolete
  1. An explosive device used or intended as a weapon, especially, one dropped from an aircraft.

  2. An explosive device used or intended as a weapon, especially, one dropped from an aircraft. The atomic bomb.

    dated · often
    During the Cold War, everyone worried about the bomb sometimes.
  3. An explosive device used or intended as a weapon, especially, one dropped from an aircraft. Events or conditions that have a speedy destructive effect.

    figuratively
  4. An explosive device used or intended as a weapon, especially, one dropped from an aircraft. A grenade, mortar shell, or artillery shell.

    archaic · historical
  5. An explosive device used or intended as a weapon, especially, one dropped from an aircraft. Ellipsis of bomb ship.

    abbreviation · alt-of · archaic · ellipsis · historical
  6. An explosive device used or intended as a weapon, especially, one dropped from an aircraft. Alternative form of boom (“barrier used to obstruct navigation for military or other purposes”)

    alt-of · alternative · archaic · uncommon
  7. Any explosive charge.

    colloquial
    The mineworkers are setting their bombs.
  8. A bag or balloon containing a substance such as water, flour, or paint, designed to burst and splatter.

    in-compounds
    The children are playing with water bombs in the garden.
    Activists threw paint bombs at the famous artwork.
  9. Anything that is at risk of exploding (literally) or that has exploded.

    colloquial · figuratively
    That turkey fryer is a bomb waiting to go off.
    The gas leak tragically turned the house into a bomb.
  10. A fart.

    India · South · colloquial
    He just dropped a bomb.
  11. A failure; an unpopular commercial product.

    slang
    box-office bomb
  12. A car in poor condition.

    Australia · US · informal
  13. A large amount of money.

    Australia · UK · slang
    make a bomb
    cost a bomb
  14. Something highly effective or attractive. A success; the bomb.

    UK · slang
    Our fabulous new crumpets have been selling like a bomb.
  15. Something highly effective or attractive. A very attractive woman.

    India · UK · slang
  16. Something highly effective or attractive. An action or statement that causes a strong reaction.

    in-compounds · often
    It was an ordinary speech, until the president dropped a bomb: he would be retiring for medical reasons.
  17. Something highly effective or attractive. An action or statement that causes a strong reaction. An obscene word identified by its first letter.

    in-compounds · often
    Normally very controlled, he dropped the F-bomb and cursed the paparazzi.
  18. Something highly effective or attractive. A long forward pass.

    slang
  19. Something highly effective or attractive. A high kick that sends the ball relatively straight up so players can get under it before it comes down.

    slang
  20. Something highly effective or attractive. A throw into the basket from a considerable distance.

    slang
  21. Something highly effective or attractive. A highly potent joint (cannabis cigarette).

    slang
  22. Something highly effective or attractive. A piece of food, often small, usually intensely flavored.

    in-compounds · informal
  23. A cyclone whose central pressure drops at an average rate of at least one millibar per hour for at least 24 hours.

  24. A heavy-walled container designed to permit chemical reactions under high pressure.

  25. A great booming noise; a hollow sound.

    obsolete
  26. A woman’s breast.

    plural · slang · usually
  27. A professional wrestling throw in which an opponent is lifted and then slammed back-first down to the mat.

  28. A recreational drug ground up, wrapped, and swallowed.

    slang
  29. An act of jumping into water while keeping one's arms and legs tucked into the body, as in a squatting position, to maximize splashing.

    colloquial
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Pre-Greekbor. Ancient Greek βόμβος (bómbos)bor. Latin bombusder. Italian bombabor. French bombebor. English bomb From French bombe, from Italian bomba, from Latin bombus (“a booming sound”), from Ancient Greek βόμβος (bómbos, “booming, humming, buzzing”), imitative of the sound itself. Doublet of bombe. Compare boom.

verb/bɒm/Canada, Northern-England, Received-Pronunciation, Wales/bɔm/Australia, British, Scotland, Southern, Standard/bɑm/US/bʌm/obsolete
  1. To attack using one or more bombs; to bombard.

    intransitive · transitive
  2. To attack using one or more bombs; to bombard. To attack or annoy in the manner of a bombing.

    figuratively · intransitive · often · transitive
  3. To jump into water in a squatting position, with the arms wrapped around the legs, in order to maximise the resulting splash.

    informal
  4. To add an excessive amount of chlorine to a pool when it has not been maintained properly.

    informal
  5. To move at high speed.

    especially · informal
    I was bombing down the road on my motorbike.
  6. To make oneself drunk.

    reflexive · slang
  7. To cover an area in many graffiti tags.

    slang
  8. To fail dismally.

    ambitransitive · slang
    I totally bombed that exam.
  9. To crash.

    intransitive · slang
  10. To make a smelly mess in (a toilet).

    slang · transitive
  11. To sound; to boom; to make a humming or buzzing sound.

    obsolete
  12. Synonym of parachute (“wrap illicit drugs in a covering before swallowing them”).

    slang
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Pre-Greekbor. Ancient Greek βόμβος (bómbos)bor. Latin bombusder. Italian bombabor. French bombebor. English bomb From French bombe, from Italian bomba, from Latin bombus (“a booming sound”), from Ancient Greek βόμβος (bómbos, “booming, humming, buzzing”), imitative of the sound itself. Doublet of bombe. Compare boom.

adj/bɒm/Canada, Northern-England, Received-Pronunciation, Wales/bɔm/Australia, British, Scotland, Southern, Standard/bɑm/US/bʌm/obsolete
  1. Great, awesome.

    slang
    Have you tried the new tacos from that restaurant? They're pretty bomb!
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Pre-Greekbor. Ancient Greek βόμβος (bómbos)bor. Latin bombusder. Italian bombabor. French bombebor. English bomb From French bombe, from Italian bomba, from Latin bombus (“a booming sound”), from Ancient Greek βόμβος (bómbos, “booming, humming, buzzing”), imitative of the sound itself. Doublet of bombe. Compare boom.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.