| 释义 |
▪ I. napalm, n. orig. U.S.|næ-, ˈneɪpɑːm|
[f. naphthenate + palmitate (see quot. 1946).]
1. a. A thickening agent consisting essentially of aluminium salts of naphthenic acids and of the fatty acids of coconut oil. b. A thixotropic gel consisting of petrol and napalm (or some similar agent), used in flame-throwers and incendiary bombs; jellied petrol.
1942in L. F. Fieser Sci. Method (1964) iv. 47 Novello and Harris will arrive..on Monday morning and deliver 7 small bombs and 7 large ones, each loaded with 100 grams of white phosphorus and with Napalm Polymer Gum prepared in gasoline. 1942H. C. Hottel Stud. Fuel Projection from Nozzles (U.S. Govt. Res. Rep. PB 23769, 8 June) Summary, Very striking and extremely promising, however, is the enormous increase in range obtainable by the use of special materials, specifically a starch-water suspension and an incendiary gasoline gel known as Napalm. The latter can be projected three times as far in a one-eighth inch jet as can a conventional hydrocarbon fuel. 1946L. F. Fieser et al. in Industr. & Engin. Chem. Aug. 769/1 It was next found (January 29, 1942) that a combination of aluminium naphthenate with the same ‘aluminum palmitate’ could be easily incorporated into gasoline to form a promising gel, and we termed this naphthenate-‘palmitate’ combination a Napalm gel. Subsequently it developed that the supposed ‘aluminum palmitate’ was actually the aluminum soap of the total fatty acids of coconut oil, and that the specific gelling quality is due to a high content of lauric, not palmitic, acid. 1951Kirk & Othmer Encycl. Chem. Technol. VI. 580 The U.S. uses a mixture of aluminum soaps, generally referred to as Napalm, as a thickening agent. A fuel of any desired consistency may be prepared by mixing the proper amount of Napalm with gasoline. 1952R. Cutforth Korean Reporter xix. 174 He was no longer covered with a skin, but with a crust like crackling which broke easily. ‘That's napalm,’ said the doctor. 1953Armed Forces Chem. Jrnl. (U.S.) July 8/2 The thickening agent, known popularly as napalm, gelled the gasoline to a honey-like consistency. 1964L. F. Fieser Sci. Method ii. 27 On Feb. 14 [1942], we reported to NDRC development of two lines of gels that could be prepared by stirring with gasoline at room temperature. To one, made from aluminum naphthenate and ‘aluminum palmitate’, I gave the name Napalm. Ibid. 32 The most interesting sample, Napalm X–104, arrived on April 13, 1942... The material is a brownish, dry, nonsticky powder. When an amount of Napalm powder sufficient to produce a 12% solution is poured into gasoline and given one stir, solvation occurs rapidly and the swollen solvated particles soon fill the container with material of applesauce consistency... After aging for a few hours without attention, the gel reaches its final form, in which it is tough, strong, and sticky. 1966Chem. & Engin. News 14 Mar. 24/3 An Air Force contract to supply 100 million pounds of the new napalm, which contains 50% polystyrene. Ibid., Napalm-B, besides the 50% polystyrene, contains 25% benzene and 25% gasoline. It is replacing the soap-jelled gasoline napalm formulations of World War II and the Korean action. 1966Daily Tel. 16 Aug. 17/3 Mrs. Anne Kerr, Labour M.P. for Rochester and Chatham, said in Tokyo today that the United States should withdraw from South Vietnam ‘rather than drop napalm on innocent peasants’. 1967Freedomways VII. 121 We saw a man who was a victim of napalm, and two women who had been tortured in Diem's prisons. 1968[see incendijel]. 1968V. W. Sidel in S. Rose Chem. & Biol. Warfare iii. 46 The adhesiveness, prolonged burning time and high burning temperature of napalm favour third-degree burns, and such burns are likely to be deep and extensive. 1970K. Lyle in A. Chapman New Black Voices (1972) 293 I-am-wishing for an hour of napalm on ALL Junior Chambers-of-Commerce.
2. attrib. and Comb., as napalm bomb, napalm-bombing, napalm burn, napalm gel, napalm jelly.
1945N.Y. Times 17 Aug. 2/7 Only a few [new weapons] can be mentioned. Among them were:..the Napalm bomb—jellied gasoline with a detonator in a plane's detachable fuel tank. 1957S. Jameson Cup of Tea for Mr. Thorgill v. 41 All these years he has done harm—from a position of complete safety and comfort, like a pilot dropping napalm bombs. 1963Daily Tel. 22 Aug. 10/2 The United Arab Republic..admits to using napalm bombs against the Royalist tribes. 1973Black Panther 13 Oct. 14/2 He also charged that the Portuguese had been attacking them with tanks, napalm bombs and highly sophisticated and dangerous weapons supplied mostly by NATO countries.
1955G. Greene Quiet American 197 What I detest is napalm bombing... The poor devils are burnt alive, the flames go over them like water. 1959Times Lit. Suppl. 23 Oct. 614/3 Fontane sees the war at close quarters—the heat, the dysentery, the napalm-bombing.
1952Times 14 July 7/6 The napalm burns are not necessarily the most painful of wounds. 1968Listener 8 Aug. 170/2 A televison shot of a patient suffering from napalm burns in Vietnam.
1946Napalm gel [see 1]. 1968V. W. Sidel in S. Rose Chem. & Biol. Warfare iii. 46 The napalm gel proved far superior to the original rubber-based gel.
1966Daily Tel. 2 Nov. 14/8 Pictures showing the full horror of burns in Vietnam caused by the diabolical napalm jelly of phosphorus and petrol.
▪ II. napalm, v.|næ-, ˈneɪpɑːm|
[f. prec.]
trans. To attack or destroy with napalm. Also fig. Hence ˈnapalmed ppl. a., ˈnapalming vbl. n.
1950N.Y. Times 26 Sept. 2/7 Troops were napalmed when they were found hiding in caves at the dead end of a canyon. Ibid. 6 Nov. 2/2 Capt. Warren Nichols..dived down in a napalming attack on a concentration of Red troops. 1952Dylan Thomas Let. 8 Oct. (1966) 378, I think it has something to do with what Our Side gives to people after it has napalmed them. 1966Punch 12 Jan. 64/2 The nobility of our democracy obliges us to succour the people..not to napalm them down. 1966New Statesman 26 Aug. 292/2 There is no patience left in Vietnam. It has been napalmed and shot away. 1967Observer 10 Dec. 5/3 The Americans are very busy bombing, rocketing and napalming air fields. 1968Economist 27 Apr. 21/1 The nationalists have no intention of occupying these stockades, since the villages that contain them would then be napalmed or razed. 1968Guardian 1 Oct. 8/4 Napalmed peasants in Vietnam. 1969R. Petrie Despatch of Dove iii. 155 How to get rid of poverty? Blow it up! Napalm it! 1972Village Voice (N.Y.) 1 June 62/2 (Advt.), They said they wanted to napalm draft records instead of people. |