Word forms: plural atomic bombslanguage note: The form atom bomb is also used, mainly in British English.
countable noun
An atomic bomb or an atom bomb is a bomb that causes an explosion by a sudden release of energy that results from splitting atoms.
atomic bomb in British English
or atom bomb
noun
a type of bomb in which the energy is provided by nuclear fission. Uranium-235 and plutonium-239 are the isotopes most commonly used in atomic bombs
Also called: A-bomb, fission bomb. Compare fusion bomb
atomic bomb in American English
US
an extremely destructive type of bomb, the power of which results from the immense quantity of energy suddenly released when a very rapid chain reaction of nuclear fission is set off by neutron bombardment in the atoms of a charge of plutonium (primarily Pu-239) or uranium (U-235): first used in warfare (1945) by the United States against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Examples of 'atomic bomb' in a sentence
atomic bomb
What is the difference between a hydrogen bomb and an atomic bomb?
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
A hydrogen bomb can be hundreds of times more powerful than an atomic bomb.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
One was an officer in MI5, one worked on the atomic bomb.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Then he was asked: "Does that mean there is active consideration of the use of the atomic bomb?