Molotov cocktail
A crude incendiary bomb made from a glass bottle, either filled with a flammable…A crude incendiary bomb made from a glass bottle, either filled with a flammable liquid such as petroleum and supplied with a rag for a fuse that is lit just before being hurled, or filled with such a mix of flammable liquids that it ignites itself when it is smashed and its contents are exposed to air.
» Tom threw Molotov cocktails at the police.
Amastan · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 sensesA crude incendiary bomb made from a glass bottle, either filled with a flammable liquid such as petroleum and supplied with a rag for a fuse that is lit just before being hurled, or filled with such a mix of flammable liquids that it ignites itself when it is smashed and its contents are exposed to air.
Molotowcocktail, Brandflasche
кокте́йль Мо́лотоваkoktɛ́jlʹ Mólotova
кокте́йль Мо́лотоваkoktéjlʹ Mólotova
a crude incendiary bomb made of a bottle filled with flammable liquid and fitted with a rag wick
Examples
10 sentencesTom threw Molotov cocktails at the police.
Gabriel threw Molotov cocktails at the aliens.
Tom was arrested for possession of Molotov cocktails.
Paul lit the Molotov cocktail with a lighter.
Paul prepared to attack Rima’s house with Molotov cocktails.
Translations
9 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
Calque of Finnish Molotovin koktaili. Coined in Finland during the Winter War of 1939–40 bCalque of Finnish Molotovin koktaili. Coined in Finland during the Winter War of 1939–40 between Finland and the Soviet Union, and named after then-Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov (1890–1986), who claimed the bombs the Soviet Union dropped on Finland were airborne humanitarian food deliveries prompting Finns to say their firebombs were Molotov cocktails (drinks to go with his food deliveries).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: Molotov cocktailsSynonyms
5 synonyms- a crude incendiary bomb made of a bottle filled with flammable liquid and fitted with a rag wick:petrol bombgasoline bomb
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.