n.; pl. Torpedoes [ L. torpedo, -inis, from torpere to be stiff, numb, or torpid. See Torpid. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of elasmobranch fishes belonging to Torpedo and allied genera. They are related to the rays, but have the power of giving electrical shocks. Called also crampfish, and numbfish. See Electrical fish, under Electrical. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The common European torpedo (Torpedo vulgaris) and the American species (Torpedo occidentalis) are the best known. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An engine or machine for destroying ships by blowing them up; a mine{ 4 }. Specifically: -- [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

(a) A quantity of explosives anchored in a channel, beneath the water, or set adrift in a current, and so designed that they will explode when touched or approached by a vessel, or when an electric circuit is closed by an operator on shore; now called marine mine. [ obsolete ] [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

Damn the torpedoes -- full speed ahead! Adm. David Glasgow Farragut (At the battle of Mobile Bay, 1864).

(b) A kind of small submarine boat carrying an explosive charge, and projected from a ship against another ship at a distance, or made self-propelling, and otherwise automatic in its action against a distant ship. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mil.) A kind of shell or cartridge buried in earth, to be exploded by electricity or by stepping on it; now called land mine. [ obsolete ] [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

4. (Railroad) A kind of detonating cartridge or shell placed on a rail, and exploded when crushed under the locomotive wheels, -- used as an alarm signal. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. An explosive cartridge or shell lowered or dropped into a bored oil well, and there exploded, to clear the well of obstructions or to open communication with a source of supply of oil. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A kind of firework in the form of a small ball, or pellet, which explodes when thrown upon a hard object. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. An automobile with a torpedo body. [ Archaic Cant ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

Fish torpedo, a spindle-shaped, or fish-shaped, self-propelling submarine torpedo. --
Spar torpedo, a canister or other vessel containing an explosive charge, and attached to the end of a long spar which projects from a ship or boat and is thrust against an enemy's ship, exploding the torpedo. --
Torpedo boat, a vessel adapted for carrying, launching, operating, or otherwise making use of, torpedoes against an enemy's ship., especially, a small, fast boat with tubes for launching torpedoes. --
Torpedo nettings, nettings made of chains or bars, which can be suspended around a vessel and allowed to sink beneath the surface of the water, as a protection against torpedoes. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. to destroy by, or subject to the action of, a torpedo. London Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. [ Fig. ] To destroy, cause to halt, or prevent from being accomplished; -- used esp. with reference to a plan or an enterprise, halted by some action before the plan is put into execution. [ PJC ]

. A larger, swifter, and more powerful armed type of torpedo boat, originally intended principally for the destruction of torpedo boats, but later used also as a more formidable torpedo boat. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. An automobile body which is built so that the side surfaces are flush. [ Cant ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. A spar formerly carried by men-of-war, having a torpedo on its end. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. A small fast vessel for pursuing and destroying torpedo boats. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. (Nav.) One skilled in the theory or use of torpedoes; also, one who favors the use of torpedoes. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. (Ordnance) A shell longer than a deck-piercing shell, with thinner walls and a larger cavity for the bursting charge, which consists of about 130 pounds of high explosive. It has no soft cap, and is intended to effect its damage by the powerful explosion which follows on slight resistance. It is used chiefly in 12-inch mortars. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. A headquarters for torpedo vessels and their supplies, usually having facilities for repairs and for instruction and experiments. The principal torpedo station of the United States is at Newport, R.I. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. A broad stern without overhang, flattened on the bottom, used in some torpedo and fast power boats. It prevents settling in the water at high speed. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. (Nav.) A tube fixed below or near the water line through which a torpedo is fired, usually by a small charge of gunpowder. On torpedo vessels the tubes are on deck and usually in broadside, on larger vessels usually submerged in broadside and fitted with a movable shield which is pushed out from the vessel's side to protect the torpedo until clear, but formerly sometimes in the bow. In submarine torpedo boats they are in the bow. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

{ or }, n. A form of self-propelling torpedo. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]