bouncing betty
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈbaʊnsɪŋ ˈbɛti/
- Offensive
:
mina antipersonal de salto
- The documentary showed footage of a bouncing betty in action, demonstrating its dangerous design.
Examples
-
It's called a Bouncing Betty.
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Took frag, from a bouncing Betty.
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This is Bouncing Betty.
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The soldiers were warned to watch out for the bouncing betty, as it could explode at waist height.
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After stepping on the pressure plate, the bouncing betty launched into the air before detonating.
Synonyms
29
4.1
A bomb buried in the ground that explodes when someone steps on or moves it
11
3.9
An explosive device hidden under the ground that explodes when stepped on
A bomb hidden in the ground that explodes when stepped on or driven over
How Dangerous
- Specialized
86
8.1
- Specialized
1
9.9
- Offensive
1
9.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
bounce + betty
The adjective 'bouncing' clearly suggests upward motion or a launching action, so a learner would infer that something jumps or moves up before acting. However, 'betty' is just a name with no lexical clue to 'land mine', and the full technical sense (an antipersonnel mine that launches then explodes at waist height) is specialized and not predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
Bouncing betty may come from the mine's movement: it literally bounces up into the air before exploding, and soldiers used the simple name betty as a nickname. So, the term now means 'a land mine that jumps up and explodes'.