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   torpedo

   /tɔːˈpiːdəʊ/

   noun

   • 1. a cigar-shaped self-propelled underwater missile designed to be fired from a ship or submarine or dropped into the water from an aircraft and to explode on reaching a target.
   • ▪ a firework that explodes on impact with a hard surface. US
   • ▪ a railway fog signal. US
   • ▪ another term for submarine informal
   • 2. an electric ray.
   • 3. a gangster hired to commit a murder or other violent act. informal, dated US

   verb

   • 1. attack or sink (a ship) with a torpedo or torpedoes: "the liner was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine"
   • ▪ destroy or ruin (a plan or project): "fighting between the militias torpedoed peace talks"

   Word Origin early 16th century (in torpedo (sense 2 of the noun)): from Latin, literally ‘stiffness, numbness’, by extension ‘electric ray’ (which gives a shock causing numbness), from torpere ‘be numb or sluggish’. torpedo (sense 1 of the noun) dates from the late 18th century and first described a timed explosive device for detonation under water.

   Derivatives

   • 1. torpedo-like adjective

   Scrabble Points: 10

   • T

     1

   • O

     1

   • R

     1

   • P

     3

   • E

     1

   • D

     2

   • O

     1

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