bombardier

noun

bom·​bar·​dier ˌbäm-bə-ˈdir 

-bər-

1

a

archaic : artilleryman

b

: a noncommissioned officer in the British artillery

2

: a bomber-crew member who releases the bombs

Examples of bombardier in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Airmen consisted of nearly 1,000 Black pilots—along with more than 10,000 engineers, bombardiers, navigators and others—who trained at the segregated Tuskegee Army Air Field in Tuskegee, Alabama, though some went to other locations, including Michigan, for additional training. —Christopher Parker, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Sep. 2023

Its bombardier was Lt. Robert Stevenson Clever. —Sig Christenson, San Antonio Express-News, 8 Sep. 2021

The honor was bestowed after thousands had signed a petition asking that Mr. Johnson, a bomb-aimer during the war (the equivalent of an American bombardier), be accorded recognition in his final years as a collective tribute to the Dambusters. —Richard Goldstein, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Dec. 2022

Thirty-nine years ago this month, an African American Navy bombardier-navigator named Robert Goodman was taking part in a mission to destroy Syrian munitions in Lebanon when his plane was shot down. —Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker, 17 Dec. 2022

For director John Milius, Johnson portrayed a bombardier in Flight of the Intruder (1991) as well as Henry Nash, one of men under the command of Teddy Roosevelt, in the 1997 TNT miniseries Rough Riders, starring Tom Berenger. —Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 June 2022

McMackin was a 26-year-old bombardier on a B-24 Liberator that participated in Operation Tidal Wave on Aug. 1, 1943. —BostonGlobe.com, 1 Apr. 2022

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Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French, "one in charge of a bombard," from bombarde bombard entry 1 + -ier -eer

First Known Use

1562, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

bombardier

noun

bom·​bar·​dier ˌbäm-bə(r)-ˈdi(ə)r 

: a bomber-crew member who releases the bombs