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Torpedo   /tɔrpˈidˌoʊ/   Listen
noun
Torpedo  n.  (pl. torpedoes)  
1.
(Zool.) 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.
2.
An engine or machine for destroying ships by blowing them up; a mine (4). Specifically:
(a)
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!"
(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; now called land mine. (obsolete)
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.
7.
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.


verb
Torpedo  v. t.  
1.
To destroy by, or subject to the action of, a torpedo.
2.
(Fig.) To destroy, cause to halt, or prevent from being accomplished; used esp. with reference to a plan or an enterprise, halted by some action before the plan is put into execution.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Torpedo" Quotes from Famous Books



... submit. But after five months of fruitless negotiations the patience of the Government at Tokio was exhausted. On Feb. 8, 1904, the Japanese fleet made a sudden descent upon Port Arthur. This act, so audaciously planned, resulted in the destruction of battle-ships, cruisers, torpedo-boats—nine in all—to which were added the day following two more ...
— A Short History of Russia • Mary Platt Parmele
... strange yarns—"shaves" about what was going on at Omdurman, and the Khalifa's intentions. "Abdullah would fight? No, he would run away; he was laying down mines in the Nile to blow up our gunboats. A Tunisian had devised a torpedo, but as it was being lowered from a dervish boat, the machine exploded, and the engineer was hoisted with his own petard." Then there were stories of extraordinary discoveries of precious minerals—gold mines by the score. Two young officers, who wished some fun with ...
— Khartoum Campaign, 1898 - or the Re-Conquest of the Soudan • Bennet Burleigh
... and you'll see," said Rob, and he went on with his task, which was the preparation of something in the fashion of a torpedo, for about a pound of powder had been transferred from their keg to a small tin canister, in whose lid they drove a hole, and passed through it a slow match, made by rubbing a strip of rag with moistened gunpowder, which dried up at once in the ...
— Rob Harlow's Adventures - A Story of the Grand Chaco • George Manville Fenn
... States government requested that British war vessels keep away from our coast and then allowed the U-boat 53 to land at Newport and obtain information in regard to the sailing of vessels, which it then proceeded to torpedo. This occurred about the time of the blowing up ...
— A Journey Through France in War Time • Joseph G. Butler, Jr.
... been repeated formation of distinct branches or 'schools,' such as the further specialised specialist gunnery and torpedo sections. It was not till 1860 that uniform watch bills, quarter bills, and station bills were introduced, and not till later that their general adoption was made compulsory. Up to that time the internal organisation and discipline of a ship depended on her own officers, ...
— Sea-Power and Other Studies • Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge


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