A-bomb

(ā′bŏm′)

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

A-bomb

(Firearms, Gunnery, Ordnance & Artillery) short for atomic bomb

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

atom′ic bomb′

1. a bomb whose potency is derived from nuclear fission of atoms of fissionable material with the consequent conversion of part of their mass into energy.

2. a bomb whose explosive force comes from a chain reaction based on nuclear fission in U-235 or plutonium.

Also called A-bomb, atom bomb.

[1910–15]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

A-bomb - a nuclear weapon in which enormous energy is released by nuclear fission (splitting the nuclei of a heavy element like uranium 235 or plutonium 239)

atom bomb, atomic bomb, fission bomb, plutonium bomb

bomb - an explosive device fused to explode under specific conditions

clean bomb - an atom bomb leaving little or no radioactive contamination

dirty bomb - an atom bomb that leaves considerable radioactive contamination

neutron bomb - atom bomb that produces lethal neutrons with less blast

atomic weapon, nuclear weapon - a weapon of mass destruction whose explosive power derives from a nuclear reaction

plutonium pit, plutonium trigger - a steel or beryllium sphere containing plutonium 239 that triggers nuclear fission when compressed by explosives

Translations

A-bomb

[ˈeɪbɒm] N ABBR =atom(ic) bomb → bomba f atómica

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

A-bomb

n → Atombombe f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

A-bomb

[ˈeɪˌbɒm] n → bomba A

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

A-bomb

(ˈeibom) noun

an atomic bomb.

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

In the small house that served as a meeting place of A-bomb survivors, I had free board and lodging.

'Summer, do your worst': August!

'The photo of the schoolchildren with the teaching staff smiling before the dropping of A-bomb made my heart sink with sadness,' he said, adding that human beings must learn from the tragedies of war.

Footprints: REMEMBERING THE CATACLYSM

A young doctor, Shuntaro Hida, was treating a child at a military hospital 7km from the epicentre when the more powerful plutonium A-bomb was exploded 1,500 feet above the city.

Young witness of Nagasaki

It offered a wide array of places-on vacant land or on water-to drop an A-bomb, for fully awesome effect.

It's Clear US Should Not Have Bombed Hiroshima, Nagasaki

Kazuo Okoshi, 72, who serves as secretary general of the Hiroshima Council of A-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, said the United States has taken contradictory action, noting that Washington had backed an antinuclear resolution at a plenary session of the U.N.

Mayor, A-bomb survivors angry about U.S. subcritical nuclear test

Also, if an A-bomb goes off in America, who would know where it came from?

Reasoning doesn't work with nuts

Obama's response drew mixed reactions from A-bomb survivors.

3RD LD: Obama positive about visiting Hiroshima: mayor

Pointing out diplomacy as a primary cause for the use of the A-bomb, Alperovitz challenged the orthodox interpretation that the bomb was used primarily for military reasons--in short, to end the war as quickly as possible so that millions of lives could be saved.

Bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Gar Alperovitz and his critics

TEA TIME: A shortage of tea after an A-bomb caused concern

B-list city on an A-bomb list for Russians

Horace served with the 2nd Battallion, East Yorkshire Regiment, and would have been sent to serve in America if their troops had not dropped the A-bomb on Hiroshima.

A-bomb ended our move to America