carpet-bomb

carpet-bomb — noun

IPA/ˈkɑː.pɪt ˌbɒm/
IPA/ˈkɑːr.pət ˌbɑːm/

1. A bomb released as one of many in an attack that covers an entire area, designed

1.nounC1
Definition

A bomb released as one of many in an attack that covers an entire area, designed to leave nothing undamaged.

Example

The museum displayed a rusted carpet-bomb found in a field near Dresden.

collocation: rusted carpet-bomb

Historians estimate that over a thousand carpet-bombs fell on the city that night.

Common collocations
  • unexploded carpet-bomb
  • rusted carpet-bomb
  • a carpet-bomb lands

Usage Note

The noun form is rare; almost all uses of 'carpet-bomb' are as a verb. When you encounter this word, it nearly always describes the action (verb/1 or verb/2), not one of the bombs dropped.

carpet-bomb — verb

IPA/ˈkɑːpɪt bɒm/
IPA/ˈkɑːrpɪt bɑːm/

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Carpet-bomb refers specifically to dropping a large number of bombs across an entire area to destroy everything, a tactic associated with WWII strategic bombing. 'Bomb' is the general term for attacking with explosive devices and carries no implication of scale — you can bomb a single bridge. 'Bombard' means to attack continuously with bombs or other projectiles, and also works figuratively (bombarded with questions); however, it does not necessarily imply covering every part of a target zone. 'Shell' means to attack with artillery shells fired from the ground or sea, never from aircraft. 'Strafe' describes attacking with machine-gun fire from low-flying aircraft — it targets people or vehicles, not the destruction of buildings and infrastructure. Example: a pilot might strafe a convoy, a warship might shell coastal defences, but only a fleet of heavy bombers can carpet-bomb an entire city.

bomb ↗bombard ↗shell ↗strafe ↗

Common collocations

Adverbs

Etymology

English

Formed from 'carpet' + 'bomb', referring to the practice of laying bombs across an area as if unrolling a carpet — covering every part. The term emerged during World War II to describe large-scale area bombing campaigns, where waves of aircraft would drop bombs to blanket a target zone. The figurative sense (to overwhelm with information or advertising) developed later, drawing on the same image of covering every inch of a target with messages.