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

Though Alice is eventually killed, Peter manages to elude a grenade inside a building, jump a few floors from a window, and evade his pursuer by diving into a river. —Jake Kring-Schreifels, TIME, 30 Jan. 2025

Ultimately, however, police determined the grenade was inactive and safe. —Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Jan. 2025

And that headline was maybe a little bit of a hand grenade to get people's attention. —ABC News, 26 Jan. 2025

Eventually, the terrorists began throwing grenades into the concrete shelter, a story similar to what dozens endured that day, including American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin. —Caitlin McFall, Fox News, 23 Jan. 2025

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