mortar
76
7.5
- noun
- /ˈmɔrtər/
:
mortero
- The soldiers fired the mortar to target the enemy positioned on the hill.
- mortar fire
- mortar shells
- mortar rounds
So we had ammunition and artillery rounds and mortar rounds for days.
- So we had ammunition and artillery rounds and mortar rounds for days.
- And, you know, I identified some Sagger missiles and some Chinese mortars that were found.
- But trench warfare revived the craft of howitzers and mortars.
- Next thing you know, mortar rounds start like coming down and like live fire starts happening and I'm like, holy fuck, things are popping off.
- Now and then we do we find any IDs and some mortars that that op?
- She was sleeping and the people behind our house behind our house lit off mortars in their backyard.
Examples
-
"Outside, the shelling starts again, the hills raining mortars on the entrenched city."
Fiction book (1996) -
You were wounded by shrapnel after a mortar hit your reconnaissance unit outside Algiers.
Fiction book (2000) -
People react to the sounds of the mortar attack on the town.
Fiction book (2002) -
The mortar shells are deafening.
-
Then the mortar shells hit, and he's stuck there till we dig him out.
-
The dull boom of a mortar provided its own full stop for my little sermon.
Fiction book (1997) -
The war occasionally paid us a visit in the form of incoming mortars, rockets, and sniper fire.
Academic text (2000) -
Exploding mortar shells caused razor sharp stone splinters to fly, devastating to eyes and faces.
-
The base was under attack and the sound of the mortar was echoing through the valley.
-
During the demonstration, the military showcased how to properly load a mortar for accurate firing.
Synonyms
A short gun that fires shells high into the air over short distances in trench fighting
Compounds
- Archaic
A short gun that fires shells high into the air over short distances in trench fighting
How Far
Surface Forms
Etymology
Mortar (weapon) takes its name from the Latin mortarium 'bowl for pounding' because the short gun looks a bit like a bowl that throws shells high into the air. So a mortar is a weapon that fires explosive shells at steep angles.