thermobaric

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.56 in modern English

Syllables: ther-mo-bar-ic
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Meaning

adj

Describing various weapons that use atmospheric oxygen to produce a blast wave of a significantly longer duration than those produced by condensed explosives.

noun

A thermobaric weapon.

Example Sentences

"Fears have risen over the use of thermobaric weapons by Russia after the Ukrainian ambassador to the US said a vacuum bomb – another term for the weapon – had been used during the invasion."
"As he spoke, soldiers scrawled messages of retribution on the wings of a dozen drones, each packed with thermobaric explosives."

Etymology

From thermo- + baric, derived from the Ancient Greek words for “heat” and “pressure”: θερμοβαρικός (thermobarikós), from θερμός (thermós, “hot”) + βάρος (báros, “weight, pressure”) + -ικός (-ikós, “-ic”).

Origin

Source language: Ancient Greek

Word Breakdown

Prefix: thermo
Root: -

Inflected Forms

thermobarics (plural)

Phrases

thermobaric weapon vacuum bomb

Frequently Paired Words

thermobaricity vacuum bomb