Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Torpedo?

\Tor*pe"do\, n. An automobile with a torpedo body. [Cant]
\Tor*pe"do\, n.; pl. {Torpedoes}. [L. torpedo, -inis, from torpere to be stiff, numb, or torpid. See {Torpid}.] 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}. Note: The common European torpedo ({T. vulgaris}) and the American species ({T. occidentalis}) are the best known. 2. 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. 3. (Mil.) A kind of shell or cartridge buried in earth, to be exploded by electricity or by stepping on it. 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. 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. 6. A kind of firework in the form of a small ball, or pellet, which explodes when thrown upon a hard object. {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. {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.
\Tor*pe"do\, v. t. to destroy by, or subject to the action of, a torpedo. --London Spectator.