submarine torpedo
- noun
- /ˈsʌbməˌrin tɔrˈpiːdoʊ/
- Specialized
:
torpedo submarino
- During World War II, many enemy vessels were sunk by submarine torpedo attacks launched from hidden subs.
Examples
-
The SS James Oglethorpe was damaged by a submarine torpedo and sank in the South Atlantic in March 1943.
Academic text (2009) -
Naval strategists agree that the effectiveness of a submarine torpedo lies in its stealthy launch from beneath the waves.
-
The submarine fired a submarine torpedo directly at the enemy ship, resulting in a swift explosion.
Synonyms
127
6.4
A long underwater weapon that moves by itself and explodes on contact
A large underwater weapon with a very powerful explosive charge that submarines use to attack ships
A large underwater weapon launched from submarines with a very powerful warhead to sink big ships
An underwater weapon that moves by itself and is steered by a wire from the ship that fired it
A weapon that finds and follows an enemy ship or submarine using sound
How Powerful
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
3
8.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently derived from 'submarine' (undersea) modifying 'torpedo' (an underwater missile), indicating a torpedo associated with or launched from a submarine. This literal noun–noun composition follows standard English modifier patterns and is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The compound submarine torpedo paints a clear picture: a weapon that moves underwater, the torpedo, fired from a ship that travels under the sea, the submarine. That's why it means 'a torpedo designed to be launched from a submarine'.