dive bomber
1
6.9
- noun
- /daɪv ˈbɑːmər/
- Archaic
:
bombardero en picado
- He spoke many times about the Japanese dive bombers hitting the ship.
- dive bomber attack
- Japanese dive bombers
- dive bomber pilot
Examples
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During World War II, the Japanese used dive bombers to strike enemy ships with precision.
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I was forced out, prematurely, by a Japanese dive bomber.
Fiction book (1993) -
The total number of dive bombers engaged in this phase is estimated at 30.
Academic text (1991) -
The Stuka was a dive-bomber.
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The aircraft in #65 is most definitely an early model P-51, most likely one that was built to be used as a dive bomber.
Blog text (34) -
Although in phase I of the attack on the ships at Pearl Harbor, Japanese dive bombers were effective, the torpedo planes did the most damage.
Academic text (1991) -
The Hornet was hit three times by Val dive bombers and twice by torpedoes.
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German U-boats are starting to hunt in packs, and a Stuka dive-bomber can drop one down your stack from 500 feet.
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At this time—namely 7:55 a.m.—Japanese dive bombers appeared over Ford Island, and within the next few seconds, enemy torpedo planes.
Academic text (1991) -
During the fifth attack, a Japanese dive bomber succeeded in dropping one bomb on the seaplane tender Curtiss, which detonated on the main-deck level, killing 20 men, wounding 58, and leaving one other unaccounted for.
Academic text (1991)
Synonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly built from 'dive' (a steep nose‑down descent) and 'bomber' (an aircraft that drops bombs); combining them yields an aircraft that bombs while diving. This is a straightforward noun‑noun compound describing the vehicle's function and follows common cross‑linguistic compositional patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Dive bomber paints a simple picture: a war plane that makes a steep dive toward its target so the crew can drop bombs at the right moment, and the word bomber tells us it carries bombs. That's why it means 'a military aircraft designed to release bombs while diving'.