napalms

Noun

napalm (usually uncountable, plural napalms)

1. (usually) A highly flammable, viscous substance, designed to stick to the body while burning, used in warfare as an incendiary especially in wooded areas.
   • A trio of needle-nosed silver Phantom jets descended from the clouds and dropped a colossal load of napalm on the jungle. Flames turned the screen red and orange. Silence followed.
   • “You smell that?” Kilgore said, almost to himself. Then, louder, “You smell that?” Lance, the champion surfer, asked “What?” Kilgore, lit by the glow of burning trees, retorted, “Napalm, son—nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we...2013 April 1, Robert M. Neer, “PARIAH”, in Napalm: An American Biography, Harvard University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 140
2. (figuratively, usually) Anything very incendiary; dynamite.
   • When leaked, the controversial documents proved to be political napalm.

See all 3 meanings of napalm