car bomb
39
5.0
- noun
- /kɑr bɑm/
- Offensive
:
coche bomba
- Without any warning the car bomb exploded.
- killed by a car bomb
That said there were course car bombs here and there.
- That said there were course car bombs here and there.
- So, so they're stuck in this place in their mind where they're still driving down that road when that car bomb went off.
- Sometimes people see these cars coming of a car bomb, motorcycle bomb, whatever.
- But they we didn't we weren't worried about armored car bombs coming after you.
Examples
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A car bomb completely destroyed a vehicle carrying two Chilean nationals, and, apparently, a young American woman.
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In the nearby majority Sunni town of Hawija, a car bomb hit an army patrol, killing at least four people.
Blog text (3) -
You can see right there, a car bomb went off just moments ago.
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- A car bomb... - ...killed three and injured 15.
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Within days of his capture, his only brother, a good and holy man, is killed in a car bomb.
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A car bomb has exploded outside Harrods department store, killing six people and injuring 71.
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On the night of February 12, 2008, a car bomb in Damascus killed Imad Mughniyeh, the head of Hezbollah's military wing.
Academic text (2009) -
At 11:20 this morning, a car bomb exploded in the Piazza del Risorgimento.
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Militants dressed as policemen attacked the embassy with RPGs, rifles, grenades, and car bombs.
Blog text (29) -
The car bomb exploded in the busy market, causing panic among shoppers.
How Destructive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a bomb hidden in or attached to a car' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'car' and 'bomb' — it denotes a bomb associated with a car. This noun+noun compound follows a common, cross-linguistic compositional pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Car bomb comes from the clear image of a bomb hidden in or attached to a car, so the explosive can be moved and set off in public. That's why it means 'a bomb hidden in or attached to a vehicle'.