What is "bazooka"

"metal tube rocket launcher," 1942, from name of a junkyard musical instrument used (c.1935) as a prop by U.S. comedian Bob Burns (1896-1956); extension of bazoo, slang for "mouth" or "boastful talk" (1877), probably from Dutch bazuin "trumpet."

Etymology 1 n. 1 a primitive trombone having wide tubes. 2 an American shoulder-held rocket launcher used as an antitank weapon, developed during World War II and so-called from its resemblance to the bazooka musical instrument. 3 by extension, any shoulder-fired rocket grenade launcher 4 (context slang sexuality English) a female breast. Etymology 2

n. (context slang English) crack cocaine.

n. a portable rocket launcher used by infantrymen as an anti-tank weapon

Bazooka is the common name for a man-portable recoilless antitank rocket launcher weapon, widely fielded by the United States Army. Also referred to as the "Stovepipe", the innovative bazooka was among the first generation of rocket-propelled anti-tank weapons used in infantry combat. Featuring a solid rocket motor for propulsion, it allowed for high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warheads to be delivered against armored vehicles, machine gun nests, and fortified bunkers at ranges beyond that of a standard thrown grenade or mine. The bazooka also fired a high explosive squash head (HESH) round, effective against buildings and tank armor. The universally applied nickname arose from the M1 variant's vague resemblance to the musical instrument called a " bazooka" invented and popularized by 1930s U.S. comedian Bob Burns.

During World War II, German armed forces captured several bazookas in early North African and Eastern Front encounters and soon reverse engineered their own version, increasing the warhead diameter to 8.8 cm (among other minor changes) and widely issuing it as the Raketenpanzerbüchse "Panzerschreck" ("Tank terror").

The term "bazooka" still sees informal use as a generic term referring to any ground-to-ground shoulder-fired missile weapon (mainly rocket propelled grenades).

The bazooka is a brass musical instrument several feet in length which incorporates telescopic tubing like the trombone. From its start within a lipreed mouthpiece (which may consist of nothing but the bare tube or employ a mouthpiece which is handmade to emulate one from a low brass instrument), the air column expands into a wide length of pipe which slides freely around a narrower length of pipe which itself terminates in a widely flaring bell.

Although the slide action of the bazooka appears to alter pitch, this isn't the case due to the extremely wide diameter of the horn's tubing. Manipulating the horn's length changes tone quality as subtle harmonic overtones fluctuate. This effect gives the bazooka its characteristic warbling, echoing sound.

In reality, all of the bazooka's notes produce purely in falset. In other words, the player's lips produce pitches as they vibrate on the bare pipe end or in conjunction with the optional mouthpiece and leadpipe unit but not in resonance with the full tube length of the instrument. Unlike the trombone, the remainder of the bazooka works mainly as a megaphone to amplify the volume of the sound.

Radio comedian Bob Burns, who has the credit of inventing the instrument some 20 years earlier, popularized the bazooka in the 1930s. Jazz musicians Noon Johnson and Sanford Kendrick also played the bazooka.

The word “bazooka” originates from an extension of the word “bazoo”, which is slang for “mouth” or “boastful talk” and which ultimately probably stems from Dutch bazuin (trumpet).

During World War II, " bazooka" became the name of a new anti-tank weapon.

Bazooka is a brand of bubble gum introduced in 1947.

Bazooka is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series. He is the G.I. Joe Team's missile specialist and debuted in 1985.

A Bazooka is an anti-tank weapon.

Bazooka may also refer to:

• Bazooka (instrument), the musical instrument "Bazooka" after which the weapon was named
• Bazooka (chewing gum), a brand of chewing gum
  • Bazooka Joe, the comic character advertising the chewing gum brand
    • Bazooka Joe (band), a British pub rock band, with its name derived from the comics character
• Bazooka (album), an album by Pat Travers & Carmine Appice
• Bazooka (band), a jazz music group
• Bazooka (taiwanese band), a Taiwanese thrash band
• Bazooka (G.I. Joe), a fictional character in the G.I. Joe universe
• Cristiana Cucchi, Eurobeat singer aka Bazooka Girl
• Bazooka Mobile Audio, the trade name and product line of mobile audio manufacturer Southern Audio Services
• Bazooka (Transformers), a character from the anime Beast Wars Neo
• Bazooka has been used as a slang term for the combination of derivatives of cocaine with other drugs: crack cocaine and marijuana; crack and tobacco; coca paste and marijuana.
• Bazookas in vernacular slang mostly within the UK and USA is also sometimes used in referring to a particularly large set of breasts.

Before their recordings for the SST label, Bazooka made a cassette tape for sale at live gigs. Many of the songs appeared on their later albums, and were probably sketches at the time in development. It was recorded in Los Angeles with the musicians were listed as, Tony Atherton; Tactical Assault Commander, Bill Crawford; Chief of Strategic Operations, and Vince Meghrouni; Minister of Bombardment. Tenor sax player Tony Atherton was known to play two saxes at one time, the other being an alto sax. They were at this time appearing in small cafe-bars at Long Beach, California.

Bazooka was a musical band active in the early 1990s, and led by drummer Vince Meghrouni. Their music could be broadly classified as jazz, but also touched on other styles. All their albums were released by SST Records.

The first line-up was Meghrouni, bass guitarist Bill Crawford and saxophonist Tony Atherton. This lineup of Bazooka record three albums: "Perfectly Square", "Blowhole", and "Cigars, Oyster and Booze."

Songwriting was split about evenly between the trio's members, with a healthy dose of jazz standards written by the likes of Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins and Lee Morgan. The music was generally in a bebop or hard bop vein, though a few pieces were freely improvised, and there was a strong punk rock or hard rock quality, particularly in Crawford's playing.

In his review of 1994's Blowhole, Richard Foss wrote, "It is difficult to articulate just what makes Bazooka such an interesting band and Blowhole such a fine album. There are other bands that play jazz with rock fervor and wild abandon, but few who do so with anything approaching this level of pure musicianship."

However, in December 1994, Atherton decided to leave the band, followed shortly thereafter by Crawford.

Meghrouni used the Bazooka name with a new quartet, consisting of Meghrouni retaining his position as a drummer, pianist Don Carroll, guitarist Jeremy Keller and bass guitarist Steve Reed. Keller was the primary composer, and the new line-up had a very different sound, more in line with funk and jazz fusion. Sonic Business Environment -- apparently Bazook's final record—earned positive reviews, and even appeared on a few jazz radio charts.