Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1700-1800
Origin: torpedo type of fish that can produce electricity to protect itself (16-21 centuries), from Latin, 'stiffness, numbness, torpedo fish', from torpere; TORPID

torpedo

1 noun
     
Related topics: Weapons
tor‧pe‧do1 plural torpedoes [countable]
PMW a long narrow weapon that is fired under the surface of the sea and explodes when it hits something
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
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