TORPEDO (torpedoes)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: torpedoes   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does torpedo mean? 

• TORPEDO (noun)
  The noun TORPEDO has 7 senses:

1. a professional killer who uses a gun

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

3. an explosive device that is set off in an oil well (or a gas well) to start or to increase the flow of oil (or gas)

4. a small firework that consists of a percussion cap and some gravel wrapped in paper; explodes when thrown forcefully against a hard surface

5. a small explosive device that is placed on a railroad track and fires when a train runs over it; the sound of the explosion warns the engineer of danger ahead

6. armament consisting of a long cylindrical self-propelled underwater projectile that detonates on contact with a target

7. 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

  Familiarity information: TORPEDO used as a noun is common.

• TORPEDO (verb)
  The verb TORPEDO has 1 sense:

1. attack or hit with torpedoes

  Familiarity information: TORPEDO used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TORPEDO (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A professional killer who uses a gun

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

gun; gun for hire; gunman; gunslinger; hired gun; hit man; hitman; shooter; torpedo; triggerman

Hypernyms ("torpedo" is a kind of...):

liquidator; manslayer; murderer (a criminal who commits homicide (who performs the unlawful premeditated killing of another human being))

Sense 2

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Synonyms:

bomber; Cuban sandwich; grinder; hero; hero sandwich; hoagie; hoagy; Italian sandwich; poor boy; sub; submarine; submarine sandwich; torpedo; wedge; zep

Hypernyms ("torpedo" is a kind of...):

sandwich (two (or more) slices of bread with a filling between them)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An explosive device that is set off in an oil well (or a gas well) to start or to increase the flow of oil (or gas)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("torpedo" is a kind of...):

explosive device (device that bursts with sudden violence from internal energy)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A small firework that consists of a percussion cap and some gravel wrapped in paper; explodes when thrown forcefully against a hard surface

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("torpedo" is a kind of...):

firework; pyrotechnic ((usually plural) a device with an explosive that burns at a low rate and with colored flames; can be used to illuminate areas or send signals etc.)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A small explosive device that is placed on a railroad track and fires when a train runs over it; the sound of the explosion warns the engineer of danger ahead

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("torpedo" is a kind of...):

explosive device (device that bursts with sudden violence from internal energy)

alarm; alarum; alert; warning signal (an automatic signal (usually a sound) warning of danger)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Armament consisting of a long cylindrical self-propelled underwater projectile that detonates on contact with a target

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("torpedo" is a kind of...):

armament (weaponry used by military or naval force)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "torpedo"):

aerial torpedo (a torpedo designed to be launched from an airplane)

bangalore torpedo (a metal pipe filled with explosive, used to detonate land mines or to clear a path through barbed wire)

homing torpedo (a torpedo that is guided to its target (as by the sound of a ship's engines))

submarine torpedo (a torpedo designed to be launched from a submarine)

Derivation:

torpedo (attack or hit with torpedoes)

Sense 7

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

crampfish; electric ray; numbfish; torpedo

Hypernyms ("torpedo" is a kind of...):

ray (cartilaginous fishes having horizontally flattened bodies and enlarged winglike pectoral fins with gills on the underside; most swim by moving the pectoral fins)

Holonyms ("torpedo" is a member of...):

family Torpedinidae; Torpedinidae (electric rays)

• TORPEDO (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they torpedo    ... he / she / it torpedo   
Past simple: torpedoes   
Past participle: torpedoed   
-ing form: torpedoing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Attack or hit with torpedoes

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "torpedo" is one way to...):

assail; attack (launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

torpedo (armament consisting of a long cylindrical self-propelled underwater projectile that detonates on contact with a target)

 Context examples 

The Grayback was short on torpedoes from its recent attack on Japanese cargo ships.

(Lost 52 Project announces discovery of wrecked sub near Okinawa, Wikinews)

We waited for her down the road and out of sight. It was a few days before the Fourth of July, and a grey, scrawny Italian child was setting torpedoes in a row along the railroad track.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)