cluster bomb

American  

noun

1. a canister that can be dropped from an aircraft and that opens to release a number of small fragmentation explosives over a wide area.

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cluster bomb British  

noun

1. a bomb that throws out a number of smaller bombs or antipersonnel projectiles when it explodes

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Etymology

Origin of cluster bomb

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

SEOUL—North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his young daughter oversaw the test of a cluster bomb, a controversial weapon that Pyongyang had once denounced but now considers vital to its strategic-missile arsenal.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026

But the Commanders are still the same cluster bomb owned by Snyder.

From Washington Post • Oct. 14, 2022

The Pentagon hasn’t dropped a cluster bomb since 2003, but it still sells them.

From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2016

Indeed, from a pure military perspective, a cluster bomb is ideal.

From US News • Aug. 19, 2015

And when Twitter explodes it is rarely a graceful controlled detonation, it is a cluster bomb of malice.

From The Guardian • May 22, 2013