- Torpedo boat
- Torpedo Tor*pe"do, n.; pl. {Torpedoes}. [L. torpedo, -inis,
from torpere to be stiff, numb, or torpid. See {Torpid}.]
[1913 Webster]
1. (Zo["o]l.) 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}.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The common European torpedo ({Torpedo vulgaris}) and the American species ({Torpedo occidentalis}) are the best known. [1913 Webster]
2. An engine or machine for destroying ships by blowing them up; a mine[4]. Specifically: [1913 Webster +PJC] (a) A quantity of explosives anchored in a channel, beneath the water, or set adrift in a current, and so designed that they will explode when touched or approached by a vessel, or when an electric circuit is closed by an operator on shore; now called {marine mine}. [obsolete] [1913 Webster +PJC]
Damn the torpedoes -- full speed ahead! --Adm. David Glasgow Farragut (At the battle of Mobile Bay, 1864). (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. [1913 Webster]
3. (Mil.) A kind of shell or cartridge buried in earth, to be exploded by electricity or by stepping on it; now called {land mine}. [obsolete] [1913 Webster +PJC]
4. (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. [1913 Webster]
5. 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. [1913 Webster]
6. A kind of firework in the form of a small ball, or pellet, which explodes when thrown upon a hard object. [1913 Webster]
7. An automobile with a {torpedo body}. [Archaic Cant] [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]
{Fish torpedo}, a spindle-shaped, or fish-shaped, self-propelling submarine torpedo.
{Spar torpedo}, a canister or other vessel containing an explosive charge, and attached to the end of a long spar which projects from a ship or boat and is thrust against an enemy's ship, exploding the torpedo.
{Torpedo boat}, a vessel adapted for carrying, launching, operating, or otherwise making use of, torpedoes against an enemy's ship., especially, a small, fast boat with tubes for launching torpedoes.
{Torpedo nettings}, nettings made of chains or bars, which can be suspended around a vessel and allowed to sink beneath the surface of the water, as a protection against torpedoes. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.