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Torpedo boat   /tɔrpˈidˌoʊ boʊt/   Listen
noun
Torpedo  n.  (pl. torpedoes)  
1.
(Zool.) Any one of numerous species of elasmobranch fishes belonging to Torpedo and allied genera. They are related to the rays, but have the power of giving electrical shocks. Called also crampfish, and numbfish. See Electrical fish, under Electrical. Note: The common European torpedo (Torpedo vulgaris) and the American species (Torpedo occidentalis) are the best known.
2.
An engine or machine for destroying ships by blowing them up; a mine (4). Specifically:
(a)
A quantity of explosives anchored in a channel, beneath the water, or set adrift in a current, and so designed that they will explode when touched or approached by a vessel, or when an electric circuit is closed by an operator on shore; now called marine mine. (obsolete) "Damn the torpedoes full speed ahead!"
(b)
A kind of small submarine boat carrying an explosive charge, and projected from a ship against another ship at a distance, or made self-propelling, and otherwise automatic in its action against a distant ship.
3.
(Mil.) A kind of shell or cartridge buried in earth, to be exploded by electricity or by stepping on it; now called land mine. (obsolete)
4.
(Railroad) A kind of detonating cartridge or shell placed on a rail, and exploded when crushed under the locomotive wheels, used as an alarm signal.
5.
An explosive cartridge or shell lowered or dropped into a bored oil well, and there exploded, to clear the well of obstructions or to open communication with a source of supply of oil.
6.
A kind of firework in the form of a small ball, or pellet, which explodes when thrown upon a hard object.
7.
An automobile with a torpedo body. (Archaic Cant)
Fish torpedo, a spindle-shaped, or fish-shaped, self-propelling submarine torpedo.
Spar torpedo, a canister or other vessel containing an explosive charge, and attached to the end of a long spar which projects from a ship or boat and is thrust against an enemy's ship, exploding the torpedo.
Torpedo boat, a vessel adapted for carrying, launching, operating, or otherwise making use of, torpedoes against an enemy's ship., especially, a small, fast boat with tubes for launching torpedoes.
Torpedo nettings, nettings made of chains or bars, which can be suspended around a vessel and allowed to sink beneath the surface of the water, as a protection against torpedoes.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Torpedo boat" Quotes from Famous Books



... other ships, was sent to the southward for reconnoitring purposes and put into the port of Caldera. During the night of the 23rd of April, and whilst the "Blanco Encalada" was lying quietly at anchor, a torpedo boat called the "Almirante Lynch," belonging to the Balmaceda faction, steamed into the bay of Caldera and discharged a torpedo at the rebel ship. The "Blanco Encalada" sank in a few minutes and ...
— Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 2 - "Chicago, University of" to "Chiton" • Various
... result, we were taken for English or French. The harbor of Penang lies in a channel difficult of access. There was nothing doing by night; we had to do it at daybreak. At high speed, without smoke, with lights out, we steered into the mouth of the channel. A torpedo boat on guard slept well. We steamed past its small light. Inside lay a dark silhouette; that must be a warship! But it wasn't the French cruiser we were looking for. We recognized the silhouette—dead sure; that was the Russian cruiser Jemtchug. There it lay, there ...
— World's War Events, Vol. I • Various
... Unionists would neglect no means of blowing up the Albemarle, the Confederates used every possible precaution. At the wharf in Plymouth, where she was moored, a thousand soldiers were on guard, and her crew, consisting of sixty men, were alert and vigilant. To prevent the approach of a torpedo boat, the ram was surrounded by a boom of cypress logs, placed a considerable distance from the hull, and a double line of sentries was stationed along the river. What earthly chance was there under such conditions of any possible harm coming ...
— Dewey and Other Naval Commanders • Edward S. Ellis


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