shrapnel

noun shrap·nel \ ˈshrap-nᵊl , especially Southern ˈsrap- \

Updated on: 21 Apr 2018

Definition of shrapnel

plural shrapnel

1 : a projectile that consists of a case provided with a powder charge and a large number of usually lead balls and that is exploded in flight

2 : bomb, mine, or shell fragments

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Examples of shrapnel in a Sentence

He has a piece of shrapnel in his leg.
Shrapnel from the explosion wounded many people.

Recent Examples of shrapnel from the Web

Several rows away, Jennifer Riordan, a bank executive and mother of two,was partially sucked through the window broken by shrapnel.

— char adams, PEOPLE.com, "New Father on Southwest Plane Describes Deadly Flight: 'I Thought I'd Never See My Son Again'," 18 Apr. 2018
Injured by shrapnel on Tarawa, Kelly was awarded the Purple Heart.

— frank fitzpatrick, Philly.com, "The Philly sports fan who became a WWII hero | Frank's Place," 14 Apr. 2018
Saudi defense forces intercepted all the missiles, according to the coalition, but a piece of shrapnel tore through a house in Riyadh and killed one man, an Egyptian.

— summer said, WSJ, "Yemen Rebels Strike Saudi Oil Tanker," 3 Apr. 2018
Takata air bag inflators can explode with too much force and spew shrapnel into drivers and passengers.

— tom krisher, Detroit Free Press, "States won’t get much of $650M Takata deal," 22 Feb. 2018
Fuentes had been shot in leg and shrapnel tore into her face.

— jeff darcy, cleveland.com, "Stoneman Douglas Eagles soar in March for Our Lives: Darcy cartoon," 25 Mar. 2018
Sam Fuentes Fuentes, a Parkland survivor struck by a bullet and shrapnel during the shooting, delivered a moving speech at the D.C. rally—and threw up on stage right in the middle of it.

— krystin arneson, Glamour, "The Best Speeches From the March For Our Lives," 25 Mar. 2018
Another survivor, Sam Fuentes, pointed her camera toward her face, still battered by shrapnel, and toward her leg and thigh, which was pierced by one of the gunman's bullets.

— josiah ryan, CNN, "The Parkland Diaries: Cell phone portraits of life after the Florida shooting," 23 Mar. 2018
Unlike the Takata situation, which involved exploding air bags with shrapnel, the latest probe involves devices that failed to deploy at all.

— Bloomberg.com, "U.S. Probes Hyundai, Kia for Fatal Air-Bag Flaws," 19 Mar. 2018

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

Origin and Etymology of shrapnel

Henry Shrapnel †1842 English artillery officer

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1806

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

Other Military Terms

bivouac, logistics, petard, salient, sally, supernumerary, tactical

SHRAPNEL Defined for English Language Learners

shrapnel

noun

Definition of shrapnel for English Language Learners

: small metal pieces that scatter outwards from an exploding bomb, shell, or mine

SHRAPNEL Defined for Kids

shrapnel

noun shrap·nel \ ˈshrap-nᵊl \

Definition of shrapnel for Students

: small metal pieces that scatter outwards from an exploding bomb, shell, or mine

Learn More about shrapnel

See words that rhyme with shrapnel Spanish Central: Translation of shrapnel Nglish: Translation of shrapnel for Spanish speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about shrapnel

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