letter bomb

noun

|Updated on: 13 Aug 2018

Definition of letter bomb

: an explosive device concealed in an envelope and mailed to the intended victim

See letter bomb defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of letter bomb from the Web

In 1972 the Palestinian terrorist group Black September killed the Israeli diplomat Ami Sachori with a letter bomb sent to Israel’s embassy in London.

— simon r. gardner, The Atlantic, "98 Years of Mail Fraud," 4 May 2018
The letter bomb also attracted fringe groups such as the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo.

— simon r. gardner, The Atlantic, "98 Years of Mail Fraud," 4 May 2018
Ivan Duque said Wednesday that police recently briefed him on a purported plot to send a letter bomb to his Bogota offices.

— Fox News, "Colombia's leading presidential candidate warned of attack," 2 May 2018
In the 1940s, an extremist Zionist group sent letter bombs to senior British officials and to President Harry S. Truman.

— sarah zhang, The Atlantic, "A Short History of Package Bombs," 13 Mar. 2018
Targets of letter bombs have included: the International Monetary Fund, embassies, John D. Rockefeller, judges, journalists, an anti-Apartheid activist, local police, and prime ministers.

— sarah zhang, The Atlantic, "A Short History of Package Bombs," 13 Mar. 2018
Beginning in the 20th century—as the mail-delivery system became even more codified and expansive—letter bombs became a tool of political terrorism.

— sarah zhang, The Atlantic, "A Short History of Package Bombs," 13 Mar. 2018
In all the cases, the letter bombs contained gunpowder.

— niki kitsantonis, New York Times, "Greek Police Arrest Suspect in Letter Bomb Attacks," 28 Oct. 2017

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