depth charge
3
8.1
- noun
- /dɛpθ tʃɑrdʒ/
- Specialized
:
carga de profundidad
- The British had also been experimenting with depth charges since before the war.
- drop depth charge
- set to detonate depth charges
- depth charge attack
The British had also been experimenting with depth charges since before the war.
- The British had also been experimenting with depth charges since before the war.
- As weapons on board they might have Lewis guns or bombs, depth charges, and the crew would carry rifles sometimes to snipe mines that were spotted.
Examples
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- Stand by to roll depth charges.
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- Give us a chance to try out the depth charges.
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Stand by depth charges... and fire, fire, fire!
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You want me to arm the depth charges?
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Send over eight depth charges.
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- Put the depth charges on safe.
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Harry and Dicky are low on depth charges and fuel, as are we.
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Their job is to detect and destroy enemy subs with depth charges before they can get to us.
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They're deploying depth charges.
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The warship deployed depth charges to target the submerged enemy submarine.
Synonyms
60
7.2
An amount of explosive used to make something explode
6
4.2
An amount of material placed to blow up at one time
A weapon that explodes underwater at a set depth to attack submarines
How Powerful
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
3
8.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun–noun compound is fully compositional: 'depth' (how deep) modifies 'charge' (an explosive), so a learner who knows both words can infer an explosive designed to detonate at a certain depth, typically underwater. This literal combinatory logic is common cross-linguistically and follows normal English compound formation, making the meaning accessible to a B1 learner.
Etymology
The noun depth charge comes from the simple image of an explosive charge that is set to explode at a chosen depth under the water. Ships dropped these charges to hit submarines, so the name now means 'a bomb that explodes at a specific depth underwater'.