- [countable] a weapon designed to explode at a particular time or when it is dropped or thrown
- a bomb goes off/explodes
- Hundreds of bombs were dropped on the city.
- to plant/detonate a bomb
- a suicide bomb
- a roadside bomb (= one that is designed to blow up vehicles)
- a bomb attack/blast
- extensive bomb damage
Extra ExamplesTopics War and conflictb1- A terrorist bomb ripped through the town's packed shopping centre.
- Eighty people died when bombs rained down on the city's crowded streets.
- Enemy planes dropped bombs along the railway line.
- He used a clock to make a home-made bomb.
- India started to build a nuclear bomb.
- Police suspect terrorists planted the bomb.
- The land was scarred with bomb craters.
- The plane had been adapted to carry bombs.
- The suspect was apprehended for planting a fake bomb in a bus terminal.
- Their truck was hit by a stray bomb.
- a practice flight with dummy bombs
- There was no warning of the bomb blast which ripped through the packed station.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- big
- huge
- large
- …
- place
- plant
- put
- …
- fall
- rain
- rain down
- …
- attack
- blast
- explosion
- …
- the bomb[singular] nuclear weapons (atomic or hydrogen bombs)
- countries that have the bomb
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- big
- huge
- large
- …
- place
- plant
- put
- …
- fall
- rain
- rain down
- …
- attack
- blast
- explosion
- …
- a bomb[singular] (British English, informal) a lot of money
- That dress must have cost a bomb!
- Some company directors make an absolute bomb.
- a bomb[singular] (North American English, informal) a complete failure
- The musical was a complete bomb on Broadway.
- [countable] (North American English) (in American football) a long forward throw of the ballTopics Sports: ball and racket sportsc2
- [countable] (North American English) a container in which a liquid such as paint or insect poison is kept under pressure and released as a spray or as foam
- a bug bomb (= used for killing insects)
More Like This Silent lettersSilent letters
Word Originlate 17th cent.: from French bombe, from Italian bomba, probably from Latin bombus ‘booming, humming’, from Greek bombos, of imitative origin.
Idioms
See bomb in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee bomb in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishbe the bomb
- (North American English) to be very good; to be the best
- Check out the new website. It's the bomb!
go down a bomb | go (like) a bomb
- (British English) to be very successful
- Our performance went down a bomb.
- The party was really going (like) a bomb.
- Her new novel is going like a bomb (= selling well).
go like a bomb
- (British English) (of a vehicle) to go very fast
Check pronunciation:
bomb