n.
(pl. torpedoes)
- a cigar-shaped self-propelled underwater missile designed to be fired from a ship, submarine, or an aircraft and to explode on reaching a target.
- US a railway fog signal.
- US a firework exploding on impact with a hard surface.
-
(also torpedo ray)
an electric ray.
v.
(torpedoes, torpedoing, torpedoed)
- attack with a torpedo or torpedoes.
- ruin (a plan or project).
Derivative
Etymology
C16: from L., lit. ‘stiffness, numbness’, by extension ‘electric ray’.