shoe bomb
1
7.9
- noun
- /ʃu bɑm/
- Offensive
:
bomba en el zapato
- The tallywacker bomb, shoe bomb, etc. were all false flags. Any security hack with six days of training will tell you that!
- shoe bomb plot involving Richard
Examples
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It's a shoe bomb!
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It's not a shoe bomb.
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Does this look like a shoe bomb?
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He say it could be a shoe bomb.
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A shoe bomb?
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In 2001, a man attempted to detonate a shoe bomb on a transatlantic flight, endangering everyone on board.
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Security measures at airports were tightened after the incident involving a shoe bomb during a flight.
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The authorities discovered a shoe bomb hidden in the luggage of a suspect at the airport.
Synonyms
∞
1.8
A container with explosive material that makes a large explosion and damages things
40
4.1
An object made to burst violently and cause damage
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an explosive device hidden in a shoe' is directly and transparently derived from combining the literal senses of 'shoe' and 'bomb'—a noun–noun compound where the second noun specifies the type of bomb. This follows common compounding patterns found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituent words would very likely infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Shoe bomb comes from the clear image of a shoe hiding a bomb in its sole or heel. Imagine a small explosive placed inside your shoe so people do not see it, and that's why the term means 'an explosive device hidden inside a shoe'.