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PlainSpell

bomb

/bɑm/noun, verb, adjective

bomb is spelled B-O-M-B: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 40 times per million words in written English, the 2,487th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, bomb means “An explosive device used or intended as a weapon, especially, one dropped from an aircraft” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bomb is bombs.

How many letters and syllables are in bomb?

Letters4: B-O-M-B
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing40 times per million words; the 2,487th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Sounds like
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is bomb?

Bomb appears 40 times per million words in written English, the 2,487th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce bomb?

  • UK /bɒm/
  • British /bɔm/
  • US /bɑm/

Bomb has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-bomb.ogg, EN-AU_ck1_bomb.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with bomb

Sounds like: BOM, balm (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: boom.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with bomb?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as bomb from its last stressed vowel (/ɑm/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of bomb

  • bombs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • bombing participle, present
  • bombed participle, past
  • more bomb comparative
  • most bomb superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does bomb mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    An explosive device used or intended as a weapon, especially, one dropped from an aircraft.

  2. 2

    datedThe atomic bomb.

    During the Cold War, everyone worried about the bomb sometimes.

  3. 3

    Events or conditions that have a speedy destructive effect.

  4. 4

    archaicA grenade, mortar shell, or artillery shell.

  5. 5

    archaicEllipsis of bomb ship.

  6. 6

    archaicAlternative form of boom (“barrier used to obstruct navigation for military or other purposes”)

  7. 7

    colloquialAny explosive charge.

    The mineworkers are setting their bombs.

  8. 8

    A bag or balloon containing a substance such as water, flour, or paint, designed to burst and splatter.

    The children are playing with water bombs in the garden.

verb

  1. 1

    To attack using one or more bombs; to bombard.

  2. 2

    To attack or annoy in the manner of a bombing.

  3. 3

    informalTo jump into water in a squatting position, with the arms wrapped around the legs, in order to maximise the resulting splash.

  4. 4

    informalTo add an excessive amount of chlorine to a pool when it has not been maintained properly.

  5. 5

    informalTo move at high speed.

    I was bombing down the road on my motorbike.

  6. 6

    slangTo make oneself drunk.

    TED: The champagne you ordered, sir. MAN: No time for this. Leave it on ice. WIFE: But I want some now... MAN: There'll be plenty for you at the party, baby, you can bomb yourself all you want at the party.

  7. 7

    slangTo cover an area in many graffiti tags.

  8. 8

    slangTo fail dismally.

    I totally bombed that exam.

adjective

  1. 1

    slangGreat, awesome.

    Have you tried the new tacos from that restaurant? They're pretty bomb!

noun

as Bomb
  1. 1

    informalThe atomic bomb; the capacity to launch a nuclear attack.

    Pakistan and India both have the Bomb now.

phrase

as BOMB
  1. 1

    derogatoryoffensiveslangvulgarInitialism of bottom of the motherfucking barrel (indicating that something or someone is egregiously unfavorable).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Bomb in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchbombe, explosif, obus (device filled with explosives), bombe sexuelle (very attractive woman), bombarder, pilonner (attack with bombs)
GermanBombe, Sprengstoff (device filled with explosives), bombardieren (attack with bombs), Arschbombe (a jump into water for maximum splashing), eine Arschbombe machen (to jump into water in a squatting position)
Portuguesebomba, explosivo, coisa explosiva (device filled with explosives), bombardear, bombear (attack with bombs)
Spanishbomba, explosivo (device filled with explosives), bombardear, bombear (attack with bombs), hacer la bomba (to jump into water in a squatting position)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does bomb come from?

From French bombe, from Italian bomba, from Latin bombus (“a booming sound”), from Ancient Greek βόμβος (bómbos, “booming, humming, buzzing”), imitative of the sound itself. Doublet of bombe. Compare boom.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after bomb