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shrapnel

Pronunciation: /ˈʃrapn(ə)l/

Translate shrapnel | into French | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of shrapnel

noun

[mass noun]
  • 1fragments of a bomb, shell, or other object thrown out by an explosion: he was killed by flying shrapnel [as modifier]:shrapnel wounds
  • 2 informal small change:little more than a few pounds and a handful of shrapnel

Origin:

early 19th century: named after General Henry Shrapnel (1761–1842), the British soldier who invented the shell

shrapnel in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of shrapnel in the US English dictionary

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