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Glite Dictionary
to bomb up

to bomb up

1 8.8
To load a plane with bombs before an attack mission
  • phrasal verb
  • UK
translation icon : cargar bombas
  • To prepare for the combat operation, they had to bomb up all available jets at the base.

Examples

  • Often you want to put your biggest bomb up front, where it will have the most emotional effect—but not always.

    Academic text (2011)

  • The crew worked quickly to bomb up the aircraft before the mission.

  • Before the air strike, the pilots needed to bomb up their planes with the latest munitions.

Synonyms

to load up
vsto bomb up
  • Informal
94 3.0

To fill a car, box, or yourself with things until each is full

is specific to filling an aircraft with munitions before a combat mission

Antonyms

to unload
125 2.6

Take things or people out of a vehicle like a truck

How Armed

to bomb up
  • UK
1 8.8
to arm
119 3.7
to equip
276 3.2
to load
572 1.0

Surface Forms

bomb up infinitive
bombed up past
bombed up past participle
bombing up present participle
bombs up third person singular

Morphology

bomb + up

The components 'bomb' (explosive device) and the particle 'up' (denoting completion/intensification or supplying) give a partial clue that something is being armed or supplied with bombs. However, the precise sense 'to load an aircraft with bombs' is a specialized, military usage and not fully predictable from the parts alone, so an average B1 learner would likely infer a general meaning like 'to arm or load with bombs' but not necessarily the exact target or procedural nuance.

Etymology

The verb bomb up comes from military airfields where ground crews loaded planes with bombs. The image is people lifting bombs and putting them into the aircraft, making it ready or 'bombed up', so it means 'to load an aircraft with bombs'.