Molotov cocktail
a crude incendiary grenade consisting of a bottle filled with a flammable liquid and a wick that is ignited before throwing: used originally for setting fire to enemy tanks during the Spanish Civil War.
Origin of Molotov cocktail
1Words Nearby Molotov cocktail
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use Molotov cocktail in a sentence
A Molotov cocktail tumbled in an arc overhead and erupted briefly in a blaze.
Mexican Protesters Look to Start a New Revolution | Jason McGahan | November 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOne landlord even paid somebody to hurl a Molotov cocktail into an apartment just to smoke out tenants and jack up rents.
I knew immediately that the chemistry was a Molotov cocktail.
Lee Daniels on ‘The Butler,’ Working with Oprah, Trayvon Martin, and Race in America | Marlow Stern | August 12, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTWhile Davis was campaigning for that most recent election, her office was attacked with a Molotov cocktail.
Wendy Davis: The State Senator Who Killed the Texas Abortion Bill | Brandy Zadrozny | June 26, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTLocal media had been reporting that the arsonist was using some kind of Molotov cocktail to smash through the car windows.
I could have made a Molotov cocktail by filling it with gas and using the rag for a fuse.
The Flying Stingaree | Harold Leland Goodwin
British Dictionary definitions for Molotov cocktail
/ (ˈmɒləˌtɒf) /
an elementary incendiary weapon, usually a bottle of petrol with a short-delay fuse or wick; petrol bomb
Origin of Molotov cocktail
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for Molotov cocktail
[ (mol-uh-tawf, mol-uh-tawv) ]
An incendiary bomb made from a breakable container, such as a bottle, filled with flammable liquid and provided with a rag wick. Used by the Soviets against the invading German armies in World War II, these bombs were nicknamed after V. M. Molotov, a foreign minister of the Soviet Union at that time.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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