flaming onion

noun — 2 senses

flaming onion

noun

Etymology From its appearance after exploding.

1

Government, Military, Politics, War Historical, Slang A 37 mm Hotchkiss revolving-barrel anti-aircraft gun used by the German army at the beginning of World War I.

2

Government, Military, Politics, War Historical, Slang The flare or tracer ammunition fired by this weapon.

Allied pilots feared and loathed these, because a hit from a flaming onion instantly turned an aeroplane into an inferno.1985, Robert Harrison, Aviation Lore in Faulkner, page 116:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.