letter bombn.
/ˈlɛtə ˌbɒm/, U.S. /ˈlɛdər ˌbɑm/ 1. An explosive device sent through the post and designed to detonate on opening; = mail bomb n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > explosive device > [noun] > bomb > booby-trap bomb
infernal1779
infernal machine1810
letter bomb1882
booby trap1918
parcel bomb1948
1882 Time 7 437 Bruin boasted of inventing a letter-bomb that would not explode until the letter was opened.
1895 Yorks. Herald 29 Aug. 5/1 Further search..has..placed the authorities in possession of other minute fragments of the ingenious letter-bomb.
1949 A. Koestler Promise & Fulfilm. xiii. 149 His brother was killed by a letter-bomb sent by the Stern Group.
1973 Guardian 28 June 26/5 A letter bomb exploded yesterday in the hands of a Londonderry solicitor..the first casualty of the letter-bomb campaign in Northern Ireland.
2004 N. Ryan Into World of Hate vii. 125 A letter bomb containing two cubes of dynamite was intercepted en route to the Swedish Justice Minister.
2. Computing. An abnormally large volume of electronic mail sent (in a single message, or a very large number of messages in a short space of time), with malicious or vindictive intent, esp. in the expectation that the receiving computer will crash or be disabled; = mail bomb n. 2.
ΚΠ
1991 E. S. Raymond New Hacker's Dict. 211 It is possible, for example, to send letterbombs that will lock up some specific kinds of terminals when they are viewed, so thoroughly that the user must cycle power..to unwedge them.
1995 M. Harrison Usenet Handbk. viii. 194 In cases where a user does something that invites an email letter-bomb attack on your site, it can mess up incoming mail for everyone else at the site.
2003 M. Bishop Computer Security 113 The policy..disallows using mail to interfere with others, such as by sending spam or letter bombs.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1882