gravity bomb
1
6.2
- noun
- /ˈɡrævɪti bɑm/
- Specialized
:
bomba de gravedad
- Putting B61 or B83 gravity nuclear bombs on board is still possible as well, although using standoff-type weapons instead of gravity bombs makes the B-2 a much greater threat.
And then our bombers carry, you know, gravity bombs.
- And then our bombers carry, you know, gravity bombs.
Examples
-
During the mission, the aircraft released several gravity bombs over enemy territory to avoid precision guidance systems.
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The military demonstrated the effectiveness of gravity bombs by showing how they target areas through free fall.
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In South Korea, this included the removal of some sixty B-61 gravity bombs for U.S. F-16s at Kunsan Air Force Base in South Korea.
Academic text (2004) -
The Air Force deployed gravity bombs that relied solely on their weight to strike the target.
Synonyms
1
5.1
An explosive dropped from a plane that falls by gravity without guidance
How Accurate
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning of 'gravity bomb' is directly compositional: a 'bomb' that reaches its target by 'gravity' (i.e., falling), so the compound's sense can be derived from the literal meanings of its constituents. This regular noun‑noun compounding follows common cross‑linguistic logic and would be inferable by a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
Gravity bomb comes from the simple image of a heavy bomb dropped from a plane and left to fall by gravity. Because nothing guides it, the term means a bomb that reaches its target 'only by falling' rather than being steered.