torpedo

noun

1. An electric ray of the genus Torpedo.

   “Faire Queene, forbeare to angle for the fiſh, / Which being caught, ſtrikes him that takes it dead, / I meane that vile Torpedo, Gaueſton, / That now I hope flotes on the Iriſh Seas”

   “The man has been changed into an artificial monster by the station in which he is born, and the consequent homage that benumbed his faculties like the torpedo's touch […].”

   “"A childhood Misadventure with a Torpedo," Dixon, with a brief move of his head toward Mason, confides, "— thus his Sensitivity at all References to the,"— whispering,— "electrickal!"”

2. A cylindrical explosive projectile that can travel quickly underwater and is used as a weapon.

   “I stood rigid, spellbound, watching the white wake of the torpedo. It struck us on the starboard side almost amidships. The vessel rocked as though the sea beneath it had been uptorn by a mighty volcano.”

   “Four Japanese torpedo boats launch an attack on the Suvorov. Despite burning steadily for several hours and now taking a torpedo to the stern, the ship still lashes out at its attackers with a few remaining guns. With no pressing need to continue the attack to closer range, the torpedo boats fall back, noting the position for a night attack if Suvorov survives that long.”

   “And if fate should turn her back on them, or turn away from them, leaving them to their own devices, and should they find themselves be sore afraid, then they would simply sail away to the other side of the world. They would ride like the wind. They would sail once more into the breach and damn the torpedos! God save the Queen! And the devil take the hindmost!”

3. A cylindrical explosive projectile that can travel quickly underwater and is used as a weapon.
4. (archaic)A naval mine.
5. (obsolete)An explosive device buried underground, to destroy fortifications, troops, or cavalry.
6. (Northeastern, US)Synonym of submarine sandwich.
7. (slang)A professional gunman or assassin.
8. (US)A small explosive device attached to the top of the rail to provide an audible warning when a train passes over it.
9. A kind of firework in the form of a small ball, or pellet, which explodes when thrown upon a hard object.
10. (historical)An automobile with a streamlined profile and a folding or detachable soft top, and having the hood or bonnet line raised to be level with the car's waistline, resulting in a straight beltline from front to back.
11. A focal ovoid swelling on the axons of Purkinje cells, observed in several diseases such as essential tremor and spinocerebellar ataxia.

    “In several human neurodegenerative diseases, focal axonal swellings on Purkinje cells – known as torpedoes – have been associated with Purkinje cell loss. Interestingly, torpedoes are also reported to appear transiently during development in rat cerebellum.”

12. (US, plural-normally, slang)A woman's shoe with a pointed toe.
13. (US, plural-normally, slang)A large breast; a breast with a large nipple.
14. (slang)A marijuana cigarette.
15. (slang)A marijuana cigarette.

verb

1. (transitive)To strike (a ship) with one or more torpedoes.
2. (transitive)To sink (a ship) with one or more torpedoes.

   “The anti-German riots which erupted simultaneously in many countries in response to the torpedoing of the Lusitania by a German U-boat in 1915 reflected shifts in the status of minorities in multi-ethnic societies at a time of escalating nationalist emotions.”

3. (figuratively, transitive)To undermine or destroy any endeavor with a powerful attack.

   “The left-back had been a selection concern because of an injury niggle but his first goal since last March swung this derby decisively in United’s favour, extending their club record unbeaten run away from home in the Premier League to 22 games and torpedoing City’s sequence of 21 straight wins in all competitions.”

   “The Toronto-based company[…] promised a certain fantasy, particularly aimed at men: a list of women ready and willing to have an affair; a secret good time outside the bounds of one’s partnership; self-proclaimed extensive security measures to prevent torpedoing one’s domestic life.”

   “The decision (5-4) by the nine-member bench has torpedoed Srettha’s troubled government, which has failed to gain support in parliament and among the Thai public.”

   ““It was really like a festering sore for quite some time,” said Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, DC, who said the disagreement over Khalistan “has really torpedoed the relationship.””