Note: The common European torpedo ({T. vulgaris}) and the
American species ({T. occidentalis}) are the best
known.
2. An engine or machine for destroying ships by blowing them
up. Specifically:
(a) A quantity of explosives anchored in a channel,
beneath the water, or set adrift in a current, and so
arranged that they will be exploded when touched by a
vessel, or when an electric circuit is closed by an
operator on shore.
(b) A kind of small submarine boat carrying an explosive
charge, and projected from a ship against another ship
at a distance, or made self-propelling, and otherwise
automatic in its action against a distant ship.
3. (Mil.) A kind of shell or cartridge buried in earth, to be
exploded by electricity or by stepping on it.
4. (Railroad) A kind of detonating cartridge or shell placed
on a rail, and exploded when crushed under the locomotive
wheels, -- used as an alarm signal.
5. An explosive cartridge or shell lowered or dropped into a
bored oil well, and there exploded, to clear the well of
obstructions or to open communication with a source of
supply of oil.
6. A kind of firework in the form of a small ball, or pellet,
which explodes when thrown upon a hard object.
{Fish torpedo}, a spindle-shaped, or fish-shaped,
self-propelling submarine torpedo.
{Spar torpedo}, a canister or other vessel containing an
explosive charge, and attached to the end of a long spar
which projects from a ship or boat and is thrust against
an enemy's ship, exploding the torpedo.
{Torpedo boat}, a vessel adapted for carrying, launching,
operating, or otherwise making use of, torpedoes against
an enemy's ship.