torpedo

UK: /tɔː^rˈpiːdəʊ/ US: /tɔrˈpidoʊ/ ,(tôr pē′dō)

Inflections of 'torpedo' (n): npl: torpedoes

Inflections of 'torpedo' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

torpedoes

v 3rd person singular

torpedoing

v pres p

torpedoed

v past

torpedoed

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

tor•pe•do /tɔrˈpidoʊ/   n., pl. -does, v., -doed, -do•ing. 
n. [countable]

1. Military a high-explosive, underwater tube that is self-propelled, usually launched from a submarine or other warship against surface vessels.
2. Informal Terms a hero sandwich.

v. [~ + object]

3. to attack, hit, damage, or destroy with torpedoes:
   The battleship was torpedoed and sunk.
4. to attack, ruin, or destroy:
   He torpedoed all our plans.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

tor•pe•do  (tôr pē′dō), n., pl. -does, v., -doed, -do•ing. 
n. 

1. a self-propelled, cigar-shaped missile containing explosives and often equipped with a homing device, launched from a submarine or other warship, for destroying surface vessels or other submarines.
2. any of various submarine explosive devices for destroying hostile ships, as a mine.
3. a cartridge of gunpowder, dynamite, or the like, exploded in an oil well to facilitate the extraction of oil from the well.
4. a detonating device fastened to the top of a rail so as to be exploded by the pressure of a locomotive or car, thus giving an audible signal to members of a train crew.
5. any of various other explosive devices, as a firework that consists of an explosive wrapped up with gravel in a piece of tissue paper and that detonates when thrown forcibly on the ground or against a hard surface.
6. Also called torpe′do fish′. an electric ray, esp. Torpedo nobiliana, of the Atlantic Ocean.
7. an electric catfish, Malapterurus electricus, inhabiting waters of tropical central Africa and the Nile valley.
8. [Informal.] a hero sandwich.
9. [Slang.] a gangster hired as a murderer.

v.t. 

10. to attack, hit, damage, or destroy with torpedoes.
11. to explode a torpedo in (an oil well) to facilitate the extraction of oil.
12. to undermine, ruin, or destroy:
    He torpedoed our plans.

v.i. 

13. to attack, damage, or sink a ship with torpedoes.

• Latin torpēdō numbness, torpidity, electric ray, equivalent. to torpē(re) to be stiff (see torpid¹) + -dō noun, nominal suffix
• 1510–20

tor•pe ′do•like′, adj. 
Regional Variation

8. See hero sandwich.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

torpedo / tɔːˈpiːdəʊ/ noun ( -does)

1. a cylindrical self-propelled weapon carrying explosives that is launched from aircraft, ships, or submarines and follows an underwater path to hit its target
2. a submarine mine
3. a firework containing gravel and a percussion cap that explodes when dashed against a hard surface
4. any of various electric rays of the genus Torpedo

verb ( -does, -doing, -doed)(transitive)

1. to hit (a ship, etc) with one or a number of torpedoes
2. to render ineffective; destroy or wreck: to torpedo the administration's plan

Etymology: 16th Century: from Latin: crampfish (whose electric discharges can cause numbness), from torpēre to be inactive; see torpid

torˈpedo-ˌlike adjective