depth charge thrower

8.7

A device that throws explosive charges into the sea to attack submarines from a ship

noun

Archaic

: lanzador de cargas de profundidad

The destroyer was equipped with a depth charge thrower to combat enemy submarines.

Examples

During the naval exercise, sailors practiced operating the depth charge thrower efficiently and safely.
Maintenance crews inspected the depth charge thrower before the ship departed on its mission.
The depth charge thrower was installed on the naval ship.
Many modern warships use a depth charge thrower for anti-submarine warfare.
The destroyer was equipped with a depth charge thrower to combat enemy submarines.
During the naval exercise, sailors practiced operating the depth charge thrower efficiently and safely.
Many modern warships use a depth charge thrower for anti-submarine warfare.

Surface Forms

depth charge thrower singular

depth charge throwers plural

Morphology

depth + charge + thrower

This is a literal noun-noun compound: 'depth charge' denotes an explosive used to detonate at depth and 'thrower' denotes something that launches or propels objects. A B1 learner who knows those constituent meanings can reliably infer a device that launches depth charges, and this compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common.

Etymology

Depth charge thrower comes from a simple, literal picture: a ship uses a thrower to send heavy depth charges — bombs that sink to a chosen depth and then explode near a submarine. That's why the term means 'a device used to launch underwater bombs to attack submarines'.