depth charge

noun

Definition of depth charge

: an antisubmarine weapon that consists essentially of a drum filled with explosives which is dropped near a target and descends to a predetermined depth where it explodes

— called also depth bomb

Examples of depth charge in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The stakes rise with every depth charge and meter descended. — Kate Knibbs, Wired, "My Year Watching Submarine Movies," 22 Dec. 2020 Louisville football's depth chart looked as if it had been hit by a depth charge. — Tim Sullivan, The Courier-Journal, "COVID-19 takes toll in Louisville's loss to Virginia Tech, but Cardinals showed perseverance," 1 Nov. 2020 Allied weapons and sensors improved steadily, and the surface ships could use depth charges, explosive mortar rounds and even surface guns against the U-boats once the vital element of surprise was lost. — James G. Stavridis, New York Times, "What Was Life Like for Sailors During the Battle of the Atlantic?," 14 Apr. 2020 Each side took turns maneuvering, escort ships dropping depth charges and U-boats dodging under the surface. — Dallas News, "How a British officer and a team of young women outsmarted Nazi Germany’s U-boats," 4 Feb. 2020 Rather than splay out from the convoy at speed, dropping depth charges at random, as was current common practice, Laidlaw and Okell lined the escort ships up around the convoy. — Simon Parkin, Time, "A Nazi U-Boat Tactic Stumped Allied Forces — Until a Retired British Naval Officer Designed a Game to Reveal How It Worked," 29 Jan. 2020 The Bullhead was likely the victim of depth charges dropped by a Japanese plane. — Meg Jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "If you didn't know Wisconsinites killed in battle, read these stories of veterans whose lives were cut short," 11 Nov. 2019 Nobody went anywhere near it because of the depth charges. — J.d. Crowe | Jdcrowe@al.com, al, "Alabama’s homeless veterans: Army vet trades his bike for a bench," 3 Aug. 2019 Still left to remove are the Evolved Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missiles, anti-submarine depth charges, and 76-millimeter cannon shells. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "Watch Underwater Footage from Helge Ingstad—Norway’s Newest Submarine," 19 Dec. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'depth charge.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.