to carpet bomb
4
7.5
- phrasal verb
- /ˈkɑːrpɪt bɑːm/
- NSFW
:
bombardear
- Which is why the only thing the Israelis can do is either carpet bomb or go in and take the place apart, with the casualties that must accompany such an operation.
- carpet-bombed the country
- carpet-bombed the area
Examples
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Carpet bomb the places until nothing even wiggles in the sand!
Blog text (12) -
They're gonna carpet bomb this area any minute now.
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This was the first place that was carpet bombed by the Japanese before they invaded Singapore.
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Carpet bomb the Comfort Zone so that none other may dwell there.
Blog text (21) -
American visitors to Vietnam, however, remark that the proverbial people in the street could not be more friendly toward the citizens of a nation that used to carpet-bomb their country.
Academic text (2000) -
Here's the proper response: carpet bomb Libya and do an old-fashioned Curtis LeMay/Harry Truman firestorm bombing of Libya's cities.
Blog text (21) -
The United States, after all, has never formally apologized for enslaving Africans, invading Mexico and Canada, stealing Texas, colonizing the Philippines and Guam, or carpet-bombing Vietnam.
Academic text (1998) -
The military plans to carpet bomb the designated targets in the upcoming conflict.
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During the air campaign, the forces carpet bombed several strategic locations to disrupt enemy supply lines.
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The general ordered the planes to carpet bomb the enemy stronghold, hoping to weaken their defenses significantly.
Synonyms
300
3.1
To attack a place by dropping explosive devices from planes
13
5.4
To attack something repeatedly by throwing things like stones or bombs
8
7.3
To attack a place by throwing a bomb that starts fires
2
7.5
To fly down quickly to attack, often seen when birds fly at people or when planes drop bombs
1
7.4
To attack a place suddenly and heavily, often by bombing from planes
To drop many bombs over an area in a set pattern
How Extensive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The verb 'carpet' (to cover densely) combined with 'bomb' creates a direct, imageable meaning of covering an area with bombs; the overall sense is a straightforward compositional metaphor. Because the meaning follows regular combination patterns and is predictable from the two constituents, a B1 learner who knows both words would likely infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Carpet bomb comes from a simple picture: imagine dropping so many bombs that they cover the ground like a carpet. So, carpet bomb means 'to attack a wide area with many bombs'.