torpedo
noun
[ tɔːˈpiːdəʊ ]
• a cigar-shaped self-propelled underwater missile designed to be fired from a ship or submarine or dropped into the water from an aircraft and to explode on reaching a target.
• an electric ray.
torpedo
verb
• attack or sink (a ship) with a torpedo or torpedoes.
• "the liner was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine"
Origin:
early 16th century (in torpedo (sense 2 of the noun)): from Latin, literally ‘stiffness, numbness’, by extension ‘electric ray’ (which gives a shock causing numbness), from torpere ‘be numb or sluggish’. torpedo (sense 1 of the noun) dates from the late 18th century and first described a timed explosive device for detonation under water.
