bombs

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of bomb.

   Crews loaded the bombs into the aircraft before takeoff.

   Inspectors found several corroded bombs buried at the abandoned base.

   Note

   The spelling serves two grammars: as a noun it counts devices, and the same letters also form the present-tense verb (the squadron bombs the bridge). The plural carries every countable sense of bomb: weapons dropped from aircraft, the grenades and shells of older warfare, any explosive charge in casual speech, and figurative bombs, events with a swift destructive effect. Only the dated use meaning the atomic bomb resists it, because that use names one thing with "the."

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of bomb.

   The squadron bombs enemy positions at first light each day.

   Whenever that comedian bombs on stage, the room falls painfully silent.

   Note

   Both constructions of the verb run through this form. It can be transitive (the squadron bombs the bridge) or intransitive (the plane bombs at dawn). Informal uses take the same ending: a swimmer bombs into the pool, and a car bombs down the road. The slang sense of getting drunk is reflexive, so it needs its pronoun: he bombs himself every weekend.

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