The Collaborative International Dictionary
Torpedo \Tor*pe"do\, n.; pl. Torpedoes. [L. torpedo, -inis, from torpere to be stiff, numb, or torpid. See Torpid.]
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(Zo["o]l.) 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.
Note: The common European torpedo ( Torpedo vulgaris) and the American species ( Torpedo occidentalis) are the best known.
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An engine or machine for destroying ships by blowing them up; a mine[4]. Specifically:
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A quantity of explosives anchored in a channel, beneath the water, or set adrift in a current, and so designed that they will explode when touched or approached by a vessel, or when an electric circuit is closed by an operator on shore; now called marine mine. [obsolete]
Damn the torpedoes -- full speed ahead!
--Adm. David Glasgow Farragut (At the battle of Mobile Bay, 1864). 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.
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(Mil.) A kind of shell or cartridge buried in earth, to be exploded by electricity or by stepping on it; now called land mine. [obsolete]
(Railroad) A kind of detonating cartridge or shell placed on a rail, and exploded when crushed under the locomotive wheels, -- used as an alarm signal.
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.
A kind of firework in the form of a small ball, or pellet, which explodes when thrown upon a hard object.
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An automobile with a torpedo body. [Archaic Cant]
Fish torpedo, a spindle-shaped, or fish-shaped, self-propelling submarine torpedo.
Spar torpedo, a canister or other vessel containing an explosive charge, and attached to the end of a long spar which projects from a ship or boat and is thrust against an enemy's ship, exploding the torpedo.
Torpedo boat, a vessel adapted for carrying, launching, operating, or otherwise making use of, torpedoes against an enemy's ship., especially, a small, fast boat with tubes for launching torpedoes.
Torpedo nettings, nettings made of chains or bars, which can be suspended around a vessel and allowed to sink beneath the surface of the water, as a protection against torpedoes.
Wiktionary
alt. (context military English) A mine that is placed on land and designed to explode when stepped upon or touched. n. (context military English) A mine that is placed on land and designed to explode when stepped upon or touched.
WordNet
n. an explosive mine hidden underground; explodes when stepped on or driven over [syn: ground-emplaced mine, booby trap]
Wikipedia
A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automatically by way of pressure when a target steps on it or drives over it, although other detonation mechanisms are also sometimes used. A land mine may cause damage by direct blast effect, by fragments that are thrown by the blast, or by both.
The name originates from the ancient practice of military mining, where tunnels were dug under enemy fortifications or troop formations. These killing tunnels ("mines") were at first collapsed to destroy targets located above, but they were later filled with explosives and detonated in order to cause even greater devastation.
Nowadays, in common parlance, land mines generally refer to devices specifically manufactured as anti-personnel or anti-vehicle weapons. Though many types of improvised explosive devices ("IEDs") can technically be classified as land mines, the term land mine is typically reserved for manufactured devices designed to be used by recognized military services, whereas IED is used for makeshift devices assembled by paramilitary, insurgent, or terrorist groups.
The use of land mines is controversial because of their potential as indiscriminate weapons. They can remain dangerous many years after a conflict has ended, harming the economy and civilians. With pressure from a number of campaign groups organised through the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, a global movement to prohibit their use led to the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, also known as the Ottawa Treaty. To date, 162 nations have signed the treaty.
A land mine is an explosive device.
Land mine may also refer to:
- Landmine (Transformers), several characters in the "Transformers" universe
- Landmine, the developer code name for Mozilla Firefox Version 3.0
- Landmine, an independent alternative rock band from Palo Alto, CA
- A woman of undesirable appearance, in spite of good physical health. Popularized by the show Jersey Shore.
Usage examples of "land mine".
In his work with Medusa, Conklin's foot had been shattered by a land mine, and his brilliant career as a field strategist was cut short.
Your heart is intact, your brain is not badly damaged, but the rest of your injuries are comparable to stepping on a land mine.
Dickie Chapelle proved herself braver than most men, parachuting behind enemy lines, submarining in dangerous waters, leading a patrol of Marines with flame-throwers, and finally blowing herself to fragments on a land mine in Vietnam.
Private George Talkins had been in the field one week, as a communications tech, when the truck he was riding in went over a land mine.
The first man to go down one ran onto a concealed land mine that detonated his flux bottle, which took out the two tanks behind him as well as a major chunk of the station.
And that he's so totally fucking crazy that even when he's been injured by a land mine, he's still crawling around in the undergrowth taking shots at people.