torpedo Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a professional killer who uses a gun
hit man; gunslinger; hired gun; shooter; gun; triggerman; hitman; gunman; gun for hire.
noun a large sandwich made of a long crusty roll split lengthwise and filled with meats and cheese (and tomato and onion and lettuce and condiments); different names are used in different sections of the United States
wedge; bomber; hero; sub; hero sandwich; poor boy; submarine; zep; Cuban sandwich; grinder; hoagie; Italian sandwich; hoagy; submarine sandwich.
noun an explosive device that is set off in an oil well (or a gas well) to start or to increase the flow of oil (or gas)
noun a small firework that consists of a percussion cap and some gravel wrapped in paper; explodes when thrown forcefully against a hard surface
noun a small explosive device that is placed on a railroad track and fires when a train runs over it; the sound of the explosion warns the engineer of danger ahead
noun armament consisting of a long cylindrical self-propelled underwater projectile that detonates on contact with a target
noun any sluggish bottom-dwelling ray of the order Torpediniformes having a rounded body and electric organs on each side of the head capable of emitting strong electric discharges
electric ray; crampfish; numbfish.
verb attack or hit with torpedoes

L. torpedo, -inis, from torpere to be stiff, numb, or torpid. See Torpid.

plural Torpedoes

(Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of elasmobranch fishes belonging to Torpedo and allied genera. They are related to the rays, but have the power of giving electrical shocks. Called also crampfish, and numbfish. See Electrical fish, under Electrical. ✍ The common European torpedo (T. vulgaris) and the American species (T. occidentalis) are the best known.
An engine or machine for destroying ships by blowing them up. Specifically: -- (a) A quantity of explosives anchored in a channel, beneath the water, or set adrift in a current, and so arranged that they will be exploded when touched by a vessel, or when an electric circuit is closed by an operator on shore. (b) A kind of small submarine boat carrying an explosive charge, and projected from a ship against another ship at a distance, or made self-propelling, and otherwise automatic in its action against a distant ship.
(Mil.) A kind of shell or cartridge buried in earth, to be exploded by electricity or by stepping on it.
(Railroad) A kind of detonating cartridge or shell placed on a rail, and exploded when crushed under the locomotive wheels, -- used as an alarm signal.
An explosive cartridge or shell lowered or dropped into a bored oil well, and there exploded, to clear the well of obstructions or to open communication with a source of supply of oil.
A kind of firework in the form of a small ball, or pellet, which explodes when thrown upon a hard object.

to destroy by, or subject to the action of, a torpedo. London Spectator. Fig. To destroy, cause to halt, or prevent from being accomplished; -- used esp. with reference to a plan or an enterprise, halted by some action before the plan is put into execution.