shrapnel

shrapnel is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 1 sense. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.

Definitions

  1. 1.Applied as an appellation to a kind of shell invented by Gen. H. Shrapnel of the British army. -- n. A shrapnel shell; shrapnel shells, collectively. Shrapnel shell (Gunnery), a projectile for a cannon, consisting of a shell filled with bullets and a small bursting charge to scatter them at any given point while in flight. See the Note under Case shot.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

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