grenade

noun

gre·nade grə-ˈnād

: 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 Surgeons quickly operated to remove rusty metal fragments left by a grenade. —

Eric Schmitt, New York Times, 23 Sep. 2023 Which means that sitting in everybody’s Netflix accounts all over the world right now is an agitprop cinematic grenade that presents the onetime dictator of Chile as a 300-year-old vampire continuing to feed on the blood of his fellow citizens. —

Vulture, 21 Sep. 2023 There are oversized portraits, with names and dates of birth and death on the battlefield — young and old, men and women, pictured in combat gear and civilian clothes, dangling a grenade or petting a puppy. —

Laura King, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2023 After the shooting, investigators found numerous guns, 1,800 rounds of ammunition, a homemade grenade and explosives in Barakat's vehicle. —

Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, Arkansas Online, 18 Aug. 2023 Destiny 2 players have also been crafting grenade launchers with frames from other weapons, sending hugely explosive projectiles toward enemies and PvP players. —

Tom Warren, The Verge, 15 Sep. 2023 Tanker from Royal Scotts Dragoon Guards repairs damage to his Challenger 2 after it was struck by small arms and rocket propelled grenades in Iraq on April 1, 2003. —

Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 6 Sep. 2023 These grenades were designed to destroy enemy tanks and soldiers deep behind enemy lines on land where allied soldiers were never meant to tread. —

John Ismay, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2023 The package includes ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS; mine-clearing equipment; munitions for the Patriot air defense system and Javelin antitank system; and 12 million rounds of small-arms ammunition and grenades, among other missiles and artillery. —

Miriam Berger, Washington Post, 14 Aug. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'grenade.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle French, literally, pomegranate, from Late Latin granata, from Latin, feminine of granatus seedy, from granum grain — more at corn

First Known Use

1591, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of grenade was in 1591

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Grenade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grenade. Accessed 3 Oct. 2023.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

grenade

noun

gre·nade grə-ˈnād

: a small bomb that is thrown by hand or launched (as by a rifle)

Etymology

from early French grenade, granade "pomegranate, grenade," from Latin granata "pomegranate," derived from Latin granatus "seedy," from granum "grain, seed" — related to garnet, grain, pomegranate see Word History at garnet