bomb-proofadj.n.

1702 T. Marwood Diary in Publ. Catholic Rec. Soc. (1909) 7 124 Walls & Vaults all Bombe proof [of Fort].

1734 A. Williamson Diary (1912) 85 So that it is bomb proof as I believe all the arched cellers in the Towers are.

1755 Gentleman's Mag. Sept. 390/1 There is no magazine bomb-proof.

1858 H. Beveridge Comprehensive Hist. India III. viii. viii. 518 The grand mosque, which was supposed to be bomb-proof.

1862 F. A. Griffiths Artillerist's Man. (ed. 9) 248 Casemates..are made bomb-proof.

1915 G. B. Shaw in New Statesman 13 Mar. 559/2 In Dunkirk, Düsseldorf, Freiburg and other towns where the women and children, being foreign, are conventionally assumed by us to be naturally bomb-proof.

1918 Flying 6 Feb. 90/1 A bomb penetrated the building..in what was regarded as a more or less bomb-proof shelter.

1940 N. Marsh Surfeit of Lampreys (1941) vii. 104 Each locked up inside his mental bomb-proof shelter.

1867 Harper's Weekly 6 Apr. 211/1 The ‘bomb-proof’ editors will probably continue to repeat the heroics of the war.

1868 Putnam's Mag. 1 715/1 During the late war the Simminses did their share of the fighting, for..none of them had influence to get ‘bomb-proof’ places, and keep in the rear.

1869 Congress. Globe Feb. 950/2 These sleek, bomb-proof patriots, who fight the battles of their country by strutting about the avenue here.

1895 Congress. Rec. Jan. 887/2 He asked to be relieved from a bombproof situation under the Govt., in order to join his regiment.

1928 S. V. Benét John Brown's Body 155 Muddy Washington..full of..‘Bombproof’ officers, veterans back on leave.

1755 J.Thomas Diary in F. Parkman Montcalm & Wolfe (1898) I. 260 One of our large shells fell through what they called their bomb-proof.

1780 W. Heath Let. in Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. (1905) 7th Ser. V. 28 The bunks and lineing of the bomb proof were taken out.

1807 J. Barlow Columbiad vii. 273 And housed in bombproof all the host she bore.

1811 Duke of Wellington Let. 15 Feb. in 1Dispatches (1838) VII. 262 I do not think bomb proof absolutely necessary.

1861 Russell in Times 11 June We entered a lofty bomb-proof, which was the bed-room of the commanding officer.

1870 Daily News 12 Nov. In the rear of the bomb-proofs..were the earthworks..for batteries of field guns.

1918 E. M. Roberts Flying Fighter iii. 26 I was obliged to find shelter in a bomb-proof.

1869 Overland Monthly Aug. 128/2 In the cis-Mississippi States they were generally dubbed ‘bomb-proofs’.

1872 M. S. De Vere Americanisms 281 Officials who were not expected to expose themselves to the fire of the enemy, like quartermasters, commissaries, etc. were nicknamed bomb-proofs.

1876 Southern Hist. Soc. Papers II. 229 While the war lasted, it was the delight of some of the stoutly built fellows to go home for a few days, and kick and cuff and tongue-lash the able-bodied bomb-proofs.

1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 32 Bomb-proofer, a man given to scheming methods of evading duty on dangerous occasions.

1936 M. Mitchell Gone with the Wind xviii. 314 Things must be in a desperate pass if this rabble of bombproofers, old men and little boys were being called out!

1950 R. Chandler Let. 18 May (1962) 88 Doesn't he [sc. Partridge] overlook some of the most commonly used words of soldier-slang? E.g. ‘bomb-proofer’, ‘cushy job’, ‘bivvy’.