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torpedo |
4 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Torpedo \Tor*pe"do\, n. An automobile with a torpedo body. [Cant] From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Torpedo \Tor*pe"do\, n.; pl {Torpedoes}. [L. torpedo, -inis, from torpere to be stiff, numb, or torpid. See {Torpid}.] 1. (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 ({T. vulgaris}) and the American species ({T. occidentalis}) are the best known 2. An engine or machine for destroying ships by blowing them up Specifically: a 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. b 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. 3. (Mil.) A kind of shell or cartridge buried in earth, to be exploded by electricity or by stepping on it 4. (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. 5. 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. 6. A kind of firework in the form of a small ball, or pellet, which explodes when thrown upon a hard object. {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. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Torpedo \Tor*pe"do\, v. t. to destroy by or subject to the action of a torpedo. --London Spectator. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: torpedo n 1: a professional killer who uses a gun [syn: {gunman}, {gunslinger}, {hired gun}, {gun}, {hit man}, {shooter}] 2: 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 [syn: {bomber}, {grinder}, {hero}, {hero sandwich}, {hoagie}, {hoagy}, {Cuban sandwich}, {Italian sandwich}, {poor boy}, {sub}, {submarine}, {submarine sandwich}, {wedge}, {zep}] 3: a long cylindrical self-propelled underwater projectile that detonates on contact with a target 4: 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 [syn: {electric ray}, {crampfish}, {numbfish}] v : attack or hit with torpedoes
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