grenade
/ɡrəˈneɪd
/noun
1A small bomb thrown by hand or launched mechanically.Their unit was ambushed with bombs, grenades and petrol bombs, but the soldiers managed to escape their vehicle before it burned out....
- At the moment they are still chucking stones, petrol bombs and grenades at us.
- As the patrol drove off, two rocket-propelled grenades were launched from a house.
1.1A glass receptacle containing chemicals which are released when the receptacle is thrown and broken, used for testing drains and extinguishing fires.
Origin
Mid 16th century (in the sense 'pomegranate'): from French, alteration of Old French (pome) grenate (see pomegranate), on the pattern of Spanish granada. The bomb was so named because it supposedly resembled a pomegranate in shape.
The Old French word grenate, the root of grenade, is a shortened form of pome grenate ‘pomegranate’, literally ‘many-seeded apple’. The connection is the supposed resemblance between the shape of the bomb and that of the fruit. Early on in its history grenade could also refer to the fruit. Continuing the fruity theme, a hand grenade has, since the First World War, been informally known as a pineapple.