shrapnel

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
13
Words With Friends
15
Letters
8
Pronunciation
/ˈʃɹæpnəl/

Definition of shrapnel

6 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. (historical, uncountable, usually)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.
See all 6 definitions

noun

  1. (historical, uncountable, usually)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.
  2. (historical, uncountable, usually)The bullets or balls from the aforementioned type of artillery shell.
  3. (uncountable, usually)Any shot, fragments, or debris thrown out by an exploding shell, bomb, or landmine.
  4. (broadly, figuratively, uncountable, usually)Debris.
    “The dog ate my sandwich, and there was shrapnel all over the place from him tearing open the bag.”
  5. (figuratively, slang, uncountable, usually)Loose change.
    “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”

name

  1. A surname

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

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…

See full etymology

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.

Anagrams of shrapnel

2 plays · some not in Scrabble

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7-letter words

4 words

6-letter words

23 words

5-letter words

89 words

4-letter words

83 words

Hooks

1 extension · 1 back

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