molotov breadbasket
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.98 in modern English
32
Scrabble Score
18
Letters
4
Syllables
12
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A cluster bomb; a munition that disperses multiple smaller explosives.
noun
The RRAB-3, a Soviet cluster bomb.
Example Sentences
- "Our bombardment aircraft dropped this armament in bomb-shaped 250- and 500-kilogram canisters (models AB250 and AB500). These fragmentation bombs proved to be extremely effective against live targets when discharged by a scatter drop (an adaptation of the Molotov “bread basket”)."
- "“Molotov breadbasket” is a large bomb container which, whirled by its fins, drops low, then sprays out a mass of 4 1/2 pound incendiary bombs."
- "The Russian air force dropped RRAB-3 ‘Molotov bread basket’ incendiary cluster munitions on Finland during the ‘Winter War’ in January 1940, and perhaps even earlier."
Etymology
Coined around 1940 to describe cluster munitions used in Finland by the Soviet Union during the Winter War (1939-1940). From Molotov + breadbasket, after the Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov. Compare Molotov cocktail.