Word.ws English Dictionary

the bomb

the bomb noun: the atomic bomb; the capability to launch a nuclear attack.

Noun (1)

the bomb (usually uncountable, plural the bombs)

  1. (capitalized, informal, often, usually) The atomic bomb; the capability to launch a nuclear attack.
    • Pakistan and India both have the Bomb now.
    • The Cabinet, when faced with this proffered omnipotence, had recoiled in fear. True it was that their acute distaste for the bomb[…] did credit to their humanity, to their state of civilization.1932, Harold Nicolson, “Public Faces”, in The Spectator, volume 149, page 558
  2. (figuratively, slang, usually) A success; something excellent.
    • Their new record is the bomb.
    • That party was the bomb!
    Synonyms:
    the shit

Noun (2) capitalized: the Bomb

the Bomb

  1. (alternative) Alternative form of the bomb (as in a nuclear bomb)

Examples of the bomb in a sentence

  • In my view, the tensions which have produced the “World with the Bomb” can be divided into roughly four classes.1962, Kwame Nkruma, The World Without the Bomb: Selections from the Papers of “the Accra Assembly”, page 3:
  • She’s happy, she’s found a little big-head boy who thinks she’s the bomb.1997, Sheneska Jackson, Li'l Mama's Rules, page 152:

Synonyms of the bomb

Forms of the bomb

pluralthe bombs
alternative formda bomb

Origin of the bomb

Attested in reference to nuclear weapons or the capacity to use them since 1932; see quotations, below. As slang for something excellent, the phrase is attested since the 1960s; compare go down a bomb, UK theatre slang during the 1950s meaning “be a major success”. For further etymology see bomb.

Words formed from the bomb

Questions about the bomb

What does the bomb mean?
The bomb means the atomic bomb; the capability to launch a nuclear attack.
How do you use the bomb in a sentence?
In my view, the tensions which have produced the “World with the Bomb” can be divided into roughly four classes.
What part of speech is the bomb?
The bomb is a noun.
What is the plural of the bomb?
The plural of the bomb is the bombs.

Words near the bomb in the dictionary

  1. the birds and the bees
  2. the biter bit
  3. the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice
  4. the boat
  5. the bogs
  6. the bomb
  7. the bomb diggity
  8. the bomb diggy
  9. the bombs
  10. The Boot
  11. the boot is on the other foot

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: the bomb (page history and authors); the Bomb (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-the bomb.ogg.

Cite this entry: “the bomb.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/the_bomb. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.