grenade meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

grenade

noun

/ɡɹəˈneɪd/

Etymology Borrowed from French grenade, from Old French grenate in the phrase pomme grenate (“pomegranate”), ultimately from Medieval Latin pomum (“apple”) + granatum (“having grains”). The -d developed in French under influence of Spanish granada. Doublet of garnet.

A small explosive device, designed to be thrown by hand or launched using a rifle, grenade launcher, or rocket.

Obsolete A pomegranate.

Government, Heraldry, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Monarchy, Nobility, Politics A charge similar to a fireball, and made of a disc-shaped bomb shell, but with only one set of flames at the top.

Slang An unattractive girl.

Derived terms: fall on a grenade, fire grenade, grenade launcher, grenadelike, grenadier, grenadine, jump on a grenade, math grenade
Related terms: garnet, grenado, pomegranate
Hyponyms: concussion grenade, flash grenade, fragmentation grenade, frag grenade, grenado, Mills bomb, pineapple grenade, pineapple, potato-masher grenade, potato masher, hand grenade, rifle grenade, rocket-propelled grenade, rocket propelled grenade, rubber ball blast grenade, smoke grenade, stingball grenade, stun grenade

grenade

verb

To use grenade(s) upon.

Some of the infantry got pinned down by it, and from cover kept up the battle by grenading rubble piles or any other likely spots ahead of them.2001, Samuel Lyman Atwood Marshall, Island Victory: The Battle of Kwajalein Atoll, page 43:
They advanced after grenading the next traverse, much like the British did.2015, Gordon L. Rottman, The Hand Grenade, page 46:

Hobbies, Lifestyle, Motor racing, Racing, Sports Slang Of an engine: to be violently wrecked so that the internal components burst out.