shrapnel

CEFRC2

/ˈʃɹæpnəl/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    Small metal pieces thrown out by an exploding bomb or shell.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Any shot, fragments, or debris thrown out by an exploding shell, bomb, or landmine.

Examples

  • My grandfather has a piece of shrapnel in his chest.

  • The shrapnel from an explosion is usually more dangerous than the shock wave.

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The bullets or balls from the aforementioned type of artillery shell.

  2. An anti-personnel artillery shell used in World War I which carries a large number of individual bullets or balls close to the target and then ejects them to allow them to continue along the shell's trajectory and strike the target individually.

  3. Loose change.

More examples

In context

  • The dog ate my sandwich, and there was shrapnel all over the place from him tearing open the bag.

  • I was waiting in the queue, looking at the board / Wondering whether to have a burger or chips / Or what the shrapnel in my back pocket could afford

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The bomb exploded, sending deadly sharp hot metal blank in every direction.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Shrapnel. Named after British army officer Henry Shrapnel (1761–1842) who invented an anti-personnel shell that transported a large number of bullets to the target before releasing them, at a far greater distance than rifles could fire the bullets individually. The surname is likely a metathesized form of Charbonnel, a diminutive of Old French charbon (“charcoal”) in reference to hair color, complexion, or the like.