bomb

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bomb^¹

/bɒm/ Canada, Northern England, UK
/bɔm/ Australia, British, Scotland
/bɑm/ US
/bʌm/ obsolete

Sounds like balm (one pronunciation, father–bother merger), BOM · Rhymes with -ɒm

Where it comes from

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.

noun bombs

An explosive device used or intended as a weapon, especially, one dropped from an aircraft. The size of the ground hole crater from the blast indicates it was a bomb.
dated, often, with the The atomic bomb. During the Cold War, everyone worried about the bomb sometimes.
figuratively Events or conditions that have a speedy destructive effect. If Alberta’s reserves are a carbon bomb, this global expansion of tar sands and oil shale exploitation amounts to an escalating emissions arms race, the unlocking of a subterranean cache of weapons of mass ecological destruction.
archaic, historical A grenade, mortar shell, or artillery shell. And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air / Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there
Similar: bombshell
abbreviation, archaic, ellipsis, historical Ellipsis of bomb ship
alternative, archaic, uncommon Alternative form of boom (“barrier used to obstruct navigation for military or other purposes”) Juſt by the Black Sea are two Caſtles, one in Europe and the other in Aſia […] Anciently a Chain or Bomb lay acroſs from Caſtle to Caſtle, to prevent the paſſing of Ships in troublesome times.
colloquial Any explosive charge. The mineworkers are setting their bombs.
in compounds A bag or balloon containing a substance such as water, flour, or paint, designed to burst and splatter. The children are playing with water bombs in the garden.
colloquial, figuratively Anything that is at risk of exploding (literally) or that has exploded. That turkey fryer is a bomb waiting to go off.
India, South, colloquial A fart. He just dropped a bomb.
slang A failure; an unpopular commercial product. box-office bomb
Australia, US, informal A car in poor condition. Nowadays, an old bomb simply won’t pass the inspection.
Similar: lemon, rustbucket
Australia, UK, slang A large amount of money. make a bomb
Similar: fortune, packet, pretty penny
UK, slang A success; the bomb. Our fabulous new crumpets have been selling like a bomb.
India, UK, slang A very attractive woman.
Similar: bombshell
in compounds, often An action or statement that causes a strong reaction. It was an ordinary speech, until the president dropped a bomb: he would be retiring for medical reasons.
Similar: bombshell
in compounds, often An obscene word identified by its first letter. Normally very controlled, he dropped the F-bomb and cursed the paparazzi.
Similar: bombshell
slang A long forward pass.
slang A high kick that sends the ball relatively straight up so players can get under it before it comes down.
Similar: garryowen, up and under
slang A throw into the basket from a considerable distance. With five seconds remaining, Smith received the inbounds pass and launched a bomb that dropped through the net to give his team an 80-79 victory.
slang A highly potent joint (cannabis cigarette). Give me two bucks, you take a puff and pass my bomb back / Suck up that dank like a Slurpee, the serious / Bomb will make a niggy go delirious like Eddie Murphy
in compounds, informal A piece of food, often small, usually intensely flavored. Bacon-wrapped sausage stuffed with cheese, onions, jalapenos, and more bacon is as artery-clogging as it is delicious! […] Remove bacon bomb from the smoker; let rest for 30 minutes before slicing.
A cyclone whose central pressure drops at an average rate of at least one millibar per hour for at least 24 hours. A bomb for this study is defined as one in which the deepening rate is the geostrophic equivalent of at least 12 mb in 12 h at 45ºN.
A heavy-walled container designed to permit chemical reactions under high pressure. The process consisted in preparing the metal by metallothermic reduction of titanium tetrachloride with sodium metal in a steel bomb.
obsolete A great booming noise; a hollow sound. a Pillar of Iron […] Which if you had ſtrucke […] it would make a great Bombe in the Chamber beneath.
plural, slang, usually A woman’s breast. Birdie was okay, and occasionally in passing Mort would give her a slap on the behind, or cop of feel of those bombs of hers.
A professional wrestling throw in which an opponent is lifted and then slammed back-first down to the mat.
slang A recreational drug ground up, wrapped, and swallowed.
colloquial 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. In clear contravention of the International Code of Conduct for Swimming Baths, a teenager had entered the pool by performing a bomb.
Similar: cannonball

verb bombs · bombing · bombed

intransitive, transitive To attack using one or more bombs; to bombard. 2000, Canadian Peace Research Institute, Canadian Peace Research and Education Association, Peace Research, Volumes 32-33, page 65, 15 May: US jets bombed air-defence sites north of Mosul, as the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the US and Britain of intentionally bombing civilian targets. (AP)
figuratively, intransitive, often, transitive, with with To attack or annoy in the manner of a bombing. School days have been missed or cut short many times to accommodate soccer travel through the years, but this return felt different. Photos posted on his social media documenting the experience were seen by classmates, many of whom bombed him with questions about his future in the sport.
informal To jump into water in a squatting position, with the arms wrapped around the legs, in order to maximise the resulting splash.
informal To add an excessive amount of chlorine to a pool when it has not been maintained properly.
especially, informal, with along To move at high speed. I was bombing down the road on my motorbike.
reflexive, slang To make oneself drunk. The calendar was selling Moctezuma beer, so I had one of them in her honor while Murray bombed himself with the mezcal.
slang To cover an area in many graffiti tags. It is often used to collect other writer's tags, and future plans for bombing and piecing.
ambitransitive, slang To fail dismally. I totally bombed that exam.
intransitive, slang To crash. When things weren't going Alison's way at work — some editor wanted something changed or her computer bombed again — she'd cuss and yell at whoever happened to be in the way.
slang, transitive To make a smelly mess in (a toilet).
Similar: blow up
obsolete To sound; to boom; to make a humming or buzzing sound. What over-charged piece of melancholie / Is this, breakes in betweene my wishes thus, / With bombing sighs?
slang Synonym of parachute (“wrap illicit drugs in a covering before swallowing them”).
Similar: parachute

adjective more bomb · most bomb

slang Great, awesome. Have you tried the new tacos from that restaurant? They're pretty bomb!

Bomb^²

noun the Bomb · Bombs

informal The atomic bomb; the capacity to launch a nuclear attack. Pakistan and India both have the Bomb now.

BOMB^³

phrase

abbreviation, derogatory, initialism, offensive, slang, vulgar Initialism of bottom of the motherfucking barrel (indicating that something or someone is egregiously unfavorable).

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: bombard, bomb calorimeter, flunk, dud, fail, turkey, flush it, warhead, nuke, blockbuster, powerhouse, rocket, airstrike, bombshell, bombardment, grenade

Translations

Every language

noun device filled with explosives

Español	bomba, explosivo
한국어	폭탄 poktan, 봄 bom
日本語	爆弾 bakudan, ボム bomu, 爆ぜ弾 hazedama
中文	炸彈 /炸弹 zhàdàn
हिन्दी	बम bam, गोला golā
Kiswahili	bomu
Português	bomba, explosivo, coisa explosiva
Français	bombe, explosif, obus
Deutsch	Bombe, Sprengstoff
Italiano	bomba, esplosivo, ordigno
Ελληνικά	βόμβα vómva
Română	bombă
Русский	бо́мба bómba
Tiếng Việt	bom
العربية	قُنْبُلَة qunbula
עברית	פְּצָצָה p'tsatsá

noun unpopular commercial product

Kiswahili	bomu

noun car in poor condition

Kiswahili	bomu
Русский	развалю́ха razvaljúxa

noun very attractive woman

Français	bombe, bombe sexuelle
Italiano	bomba
Ελληνικά	σεξοβόμβα sexovómva
Русский	красо́тка krasótka, секс-бо́мба sɛks-bómba

noun chemistry: container

日本語	ボンベ bonbe
Deutsch	Bombe
Русский	сосу́д высо́кого давле́ния sosúd vysókovo davlénija, автокла́в avtokláv

noun a jump into water for maximum splashing

Français	bombe
Deutsch	Arschbombe
Русский	бо́мбочка bómbočka

verb attack with bombs

Español	bombardear, bombear
한국어	폭격(爆擊)하다 pokgyeokhada, 포격(砲擊)하다 pogyeokhada
日本語	爆撃する bakugeki suru, 砲撃する hōgeki suru
中文	轟炸 /轰炸 hōngzhà, 炮擊 /炮击 pàojī, 轟擊 /轰击 hōngjī
हिन्दी	बमबारी करना bambārī karnā
Português	bombardear, bombear
Français	bombarder, pilonner
Deutsch	bombardieren
Italiano	bombardare
Ελληνικά	βομβαρδίζω vomvardízo
Română	a bombarda
Русский	бомби́ть bombítʹ, разбомби́ть razbombítʹ, бомбардирова́ть bombardirovátʹ, обстре́ливать obstrélivatʹ, обстреля́ть obstreljátʹ
Tiếng Việt	ném bom
العربية	قَنْبَلَ qanbala
עברית	פּוֹצֵץ potséts, הפציץ hiftsíts

verb to jump into water in a squatting position

Español	hacer la bomba
Deutsch	eine Arschbombe machen

verb fail spectacularly

Français	se planter, se ramasser

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Cite this

MLA

"bomb." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bomb. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

bomb. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bomb

Chicago

"bomb." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bomb.

BibTeX

@misc{bomb_2026,
  title = {bomb},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bomb},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}