grenade

noun

gre·nade | \ grə-ˈnād

How to pronounce grenade (audio)

\

Definition of grenade

: a small missile that contains an explosive or a chemical agent (such as tear gas, a flame producer, or a smoke producer) and that is thrown by hand or projected (as by a rifle or special launcher)

Examples of grenade in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The city of Minneapolis will pay $170,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a man who suffered severe burns when a police officer threw a flash-bang grenade that landed in the man's car last March. — Libor Jany, Star Tribune, "Minneapolis pays out $170,000 to settle lawsuit over police flash-bang grenade tossed into car," 22 Dec. 2020 Weapons drawn, officers threw in a flash-bang grenade. — Matt Mencarini, USA TODAY, "Louisville police's 'no-knock' warrants most often targeted Black residents, analysis shows," 2 Dec. 2020 As an attack vehicle, the Humvee will carry a potent mix of weapons ranging from machine guns and grenade launchers to the deadly TOW antitank missile. — Murray Rubenstein, Popular Mechanics, "The Jeep Is Dead, Long Live the HMMWV," 21 Oct. 2020 Another tossed a flash-bang grenade into the living room, filling the house with smoke. — NBC News, "'Live PD' was canceled. But in one Texas county, its twisted legacy lives on," 11 Oct. 2020 Instead of cannons, French forces would use medium machine guns such as the FN MAG (known as the M240 in the U.S. Army) and automatic grenade launchers such as the Heckler and Koch GMG. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "Medieval Star Forts Are Surprisingly Alive and Well in North Africa," 31 Dec. 2020 Over the next 20 minutes, the guards used heavy-caliber machine guns and grenade to kill 17 Iraqi civilians — including two children — and wound 17 others. — Los Angeles Times, "Trump pardon of Blackwater killers sparks outrage in Iraq," 23 Dec. 2020 There is a reason behind that military comparison, though: The Unequal origin story is based around a challenge to design military grade body armor — bullet, grenade-proof stuff — that is light and flexible. — Luke Johnson, NOLA.com, "How a half-inch of ballistic material is guarding Drew Brees' ribs. 'I'm honored to have protected a GOAT'," 23 Dec. 2020 The guards would later be charged in the deaths of 14 civilians, including women and children, in what U.S. prosecutors said was a wild, unprovoked attack by sniper fire, machine guns and grenade launchers against unarmed Iraqis. — Eric Tucker And Ellen Knickmeyer, chicagotribune.com, "Trump pardons in killings of Iraqi civilians by Blackwater employees stir international outcry," 23 Dec. 2020

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

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about grenade

Dictionary Entries near grenade

grenade launcher

Statistics for grenade

Last Updated

24 Feb 2021

Cite this Entry

“Grenade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grenade. Accessed 25 Feb. 2021.

Style: MLA

MLA

Chicago

APA

Merriam-Webster

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for grenade

grenade

noun

English Language Learners Definition of grenade

: a small bomb that is designed to be thrown by someone or shot from a rifle

See the full definition for grenade in the English Language Learners Dictionary

grenade

noun

gre·nade | \ grə-ˈnād

\

Kids Definition of grenade

: a small bomb designed to be thrown by hand or fired (as by a rifle)

Keep scrolling for more

WORD OF THE DAY

slipshod

Listen to the pronunciation of slipshod

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Test Your Vocabulary

More Confusing Words—Quiz

The magician ______ moved the selected card to the top of the deck.

discreetly discretely

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ

Spell words. Make bears.

TAKE THE QUIZ