Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Bombshell |
BombshellNoun1. An entertainer who has a sensational effect; "she was a blonde bombshell". 2. A shocking surprise; "news of the attack came like a bombshell". 3. An explosive bomb or artillery shell. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "bombshell" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1864. (references) |
Synonyms: BombshellSynonyms: thunderbolt (n), thunderclap (n). (additional references) |
Crosswords: Bombshell |
| English words defined with "bombshell": Incendiary shell. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | It was a bombshell for the Rutles (The Rutles; writing credit: Eric Idle) | |
Lyrics | And when the bombshell hits, I get epileptic fits (Draft Dodger Rag; performing artist: Phil Ochs) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Bowery Bombshell (1946) Bombshell (1935) The Blonde Bombshell (1998) Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell (1993) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Play | Caption |
 | Bomb; explode; explosion; atom bomb; bombshell; charge; device; explosive; grenade; hydrogen bomb; mine; missile; nuclear bomb; projectile; rocket; shell; ticker; torpedo; submarine. |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Al Hunt | Bob, what a bombshell. The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, a conservative Republican, Jim Sensenbrenner, attacking those new FBI surveillance guidelines. That changes the whole dynamic of this issue. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "Bombshell" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 96.91% of the time. "Bombshell" is used about 97 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 96.91% | 94 | 33,845 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 2.06% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Noun (proper) | 1.03% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 97 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Language | Translations for "bombshell"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | bombë e papritur. (various references) | |
Arabic | مفاجأة مذهلة, قنبلة (bomb, pellet). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | бомба (bomb, whiz). (various references) | |
Czech | puma (bomb, cougar, puma). (various references) | |
Farsi | امرتعجب اور, بمب (Bomb). (various references) | |
Finnish | pommi (bomb). (various references) | |
French | bombe (bomb), surprise, obus. (various references) | |
German | bombe (bomb, cracker), plötzliche überraschung, knalleffekt (punch line). (various references) | |
Greek | εκρηκτική βόμβα, οβούζιο (shrapnel), οβίδα (cannon ball, shell). (various references) | |
Hebrew | פצצ" (bomb, smasher). (various references) | |
Hungarian | ez bombaként hatott (this was a bombshell to us all). (various references) | |
Italian | bomba (bomb), notizia esplosiva. (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 爆裂弾 (bomb). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ばくれつ " (bomb). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ombshellbay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | surpresa estarrecedora, granada explosiva. (various references) | |
Romanian | bombã (bomb, crib, dive, egg, jerry shop, pot house, shell), obuz (shell). (various references) | |
Russian | граната (grenade, whizz-bang), бомба (bomb). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | senzacija (furor, furore, sensation, upset), iznenađenje (eye opener, surprise). (various references) | |
Spanish | bomba (bomb, candle bomb, crackerjack, forcer, pump, thunderbolt), sensación (feel, feeling, hit, sensation, sense, stir, thrill), obús (howitzer). (various references) | |
Swedish | bomb (bomb, bomba). (various references) | |
Thai | ลูกระเบิ". (various references) | |
Turkish | bomba etkisi yapan şey, sürpriz (bonus, fluke, snap, surprise). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "bombshell": bombshells. (additional references) | |
| |
"Bombshell" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Gomshall. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "bombshell" (pronounced bÄ"mshe'l) |
| 4 | -m sh e' l | clamshell. |
| 3 | -sh e' l | eggshell, seashell. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "b-b-e-h-l-l-m-o-s" | |
-2 letters: hobbles. | |
-3 letters: bombes, hellos, hobble, mohels. | |
-4 letters: bells, besom, blebs, blobs, boles, bolls, bombe, bombs, hello, hells, helms, helos, holes, holms, homes, hosel, lobes, losel, mells, mohel, moles, molls, shell, sheol, smell. | |
-5 letters: bell, bels, bleb, blob, bobs, bole, boll, bomb, bosh, ebbs, ells, elms, hell, helm, helo, hems, hobs, hoes, hole, holm, hols. | |
| Words containing the letters "b-b-e-h-l-l-m-o-s" | |
+1 letter: bombshells. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Sounds 8. Quotations: Spoken | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Translations: Modern 11. Derivations 12. Rhymes | 13. Anagrams 14. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
