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

These bring special skills, like gas grenades or miniguns, and will take an entire LMG magazine to the face and live to tell the tale. —Matt Gardner, Forbes, 27 Oct. 2024

Weeks before a nail-biting U.S. election, director Ali Abbasi is dropping a cinematic grenade into theaters. —Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 12 Oct. 2024

Quintero hid for two hours in a closet, listening to gunshots and what sounded like bombs — possibly grenades or tear-gas canisters. —Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 9 Oct. 2024

However, Hamas militants ultimately found the bomb shelter and began throwing grenades inside, wounding and killing many of those around them. —Anna Gordon, TIME, 7 Oct. 2024

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

Phrases Containing grenade

• concussion grenade
• flash-bang grenade
• flash grenade
• fragmentation grenade
• smoke grenade
• stun grenade

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