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Glite Dictionary
to dive-bomb

to dive-bomb

2 7.5
To fly down quickly to attack, often seen when birds fly at people or when planes drop bombs
  • verb
  • /ˈdaɪvˌbɑm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : bombardear en picado
  • We were dive-bombed by a German plane, and I was firing at it.

Examples

  • Her brother was making for the outhouse, and presently Barnes would go after him, making a dive-bomb attack.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Gulls dive-bombed him, cawing as they swooped near his face.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • You dive-bombed my lab and scooped up water from Fisher Lake.

    Playing with Fire (2019)

  • They're dive-bombing the city!

    Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

  • A group of long-tailed ducks chattered as terns dive-bombed for fish.

    Blog text (26)

  • Everyone scrambled to get out as a couple of tui dive-bombed the bird, but there needn't have been the rush as we soon had it in the scope and everyone had ample time to study the bird.

    Blog text (32)

  • A tern that spots an interloper near the colony cries out, alerting its neighbors, and is apt to dive-bomb the intruder.

    Academic text (1994)

  • Bush-turkeys trot across the well-kept roads of the UQ campus, just around the corner from a patch of grass where magpies are known to dive-bomb trespassers.

    Blog text (30)

  • The fighter jets will dive-bomb the enemy stronghold during the airstrike.

  • In the training exercise, the pilots practiced how to dive-bomb targets accurately.

Synonyms

to bomb
vsto dive-bomb
300 3.1

To attack a place by dropping explosive devices from planes

specifies a steep diving approach rather than a general aerial strike
to bombard
vsto dive-bomb
13 5.4

To attack something repeatedly by throwing things like stones or bombs

focuses on a single steep, diving release rather than repeated launches
to strafe
vsto dive-bomb
  • Specialized
6 9.5

To attack the ground from a low-flying plane by firing guns or dropping bombs

uses a steep, direct descent specifically to drop bombs
to torpedo
vsto dive-bomb
5 7.5

To attack a ship with an underwater weapon that moves by itself

involves an aerial steep descent to release explosives rather than naval weapons
to carpet bomb
vsto dive-bomb
  • NSFW
4 7.5

To attack a wide area from the air by dropping many bombs

is a precise, steep-angle attack on a specific target
to blitz
vsto dive-bomb
1 7.4

To attack a place suddenly and heavily, often by bombing from planes

is a focused, steep-angle strike rather than broad sudden bombing
to glide-bomb
vsto dive-bomb
  • NSFW
8.9

To drop a bomb from a plane while it moves slowly to hit a target more accurately

is done by a steep, fast descent to release bombs
to skip-bomb
vsto dive-bomb
  • Archaic
9.9

To drop bombs from a low plane so they bounce along water to hit ships

is done by a steep, fast descent to release bombs
to pattern-bomb
vsto dive-bomb
  • NSFW
9.9

To drop many bombs over an area in a set pattern

targets a specific object using a steep diving release
to fusillade
vsto dive-bomb
  • Literature
9.9

To fire a quick series of shots at someone or something

uses a single steep, diving drop rather than continuous rapid fire

Antonyms

to defend
∞ 1.3

To protect people and things from attack or harm

Surface Forms

dive-bomb infinitive
dive-bombed past
dive-bombed past participle
dive-bombing present participle
dive-bombs third person singular

Morphology

dive-bomb = dive + bomb (transparent) = dive + bomb

The meaning is directly compositional: combining 'dive' and 'bomb' to denote bombing by diving.

Etymology

Dive-bomb joins dive 'to fall quickly' and bomb 'explosive'. It comes from a WWII plane method where pilots dived steeply to drop bombs, so today it means to attack suddenly from above, used for planes, birds, or even sudden verbal attacks.