atom bombn.
/ˈatəm ˌbɒm/, U.S. /ˈædəm ˌbɑm/ A bomb which derives its destructive power from the sudden release of a large amount of energy by fission of heavy atomic nuclei, causing damage through heat, blast, and radioactivity. Abbreviated A-bomb. Cf. atomic bomb n., hydrogen bomb n. at hydrogen n. Compounds 1a(b).With reference to quot. 1921, H. G. Wells's use is cited at quot. 1914 at atomic bomb n.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > explosive device > [noun] > bomb > atomic or fission
atomic bomb1914
atom bomb1921
superbomb1940
uranium bomb1940
fission bomb1941
A-bomb1945
nuclear bomb1945
plutonium bomb1946
device1954
super1982
1921 Color Trade Jrnl. 9 2/2 There is no remedy excepting that of blowing up Paris by an atom bomb as forecasted by H. G. Wells some years ago.
1941 Nevada State Jrnl. 29 Aug. 7/8 American scientists [are]..experimenting with a 10-pound uranium ‘atom bomb’ capable of blasting a hole five-eighths of a mile deep and 25 miles wide.
1945 Times 7 Aug. 4/1 An impenetrable cloud of dust and smoke had covered the target area after the atom bomb had been dropped at Hiroshima.
1953 C. Day Lewis Ital. Visit ii. 30 Gleefully brush past atom-bomb cauliflowers [sc. cloud shapes].
1991 D. Coupland Generation X ii. xii.68 Scotty's Junction is where atom bomb scientists, mad with grief over their spawn, would come and get sloshed.
2004 Western Mail (Cardiff) (Nexis) 6 Aug. 15 They assured us if the atom bomb dropped, we'd have three whole minutes (or was it four?) to put brown paper over the windows.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1921