shrapnel
/ˈʃɹæpnəl/noun
shrapnel is spelled S-H-R-A-P-N-E-L: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,835th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, shrapnel means “An anti-personnel artillery shell used in World War I which carries a large number of individual bullets or balls close to the target and then ejects…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of shrapnel is shrapnels.
How many letters and syllables are in shrapnel?
| Letters | 8: S-H-R-A-P-N-E-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 23,835th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is shrapnel?
Shrapnel appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,835th 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 shrapnel?
- /ˈʃɹæpnəl/
Shrapnel has 2 syllables (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-au-shrapnel.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of shrapnel
- shrapnels plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does shrapnel mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An anti-personnel artillery shell used in World War I which carries a large number of individual bullets or balls close to the target and then ejects them to allow them to continue along the shell's trajectory and strike the target individually.
- 2
The bullets or balls from the aforementioned type of artillery shell.
- 3
Any shot, fragments, or debris thrown out by an exploding shell, bomb, or landmine.
- 4
Debris.
The dog ate my sandwich, and there was shrapnel all over the place from him tearing open the bag.
- 5
slangLoose change.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Shrapnel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | shrapnel |
| German | Schrapnell , Granatsplitter |
| Portuguese | estilhaço |
| Spanish | shrapnel, metralla, esquirlas |
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 shrapnel come from?
From Shrapnel. Named after British army officer Henry Shrapnel (1761–1842) who invented an anti-personnel shell that transported a large number of bullets to the target before releasing them, at a far greater distance than rifles could fire the bullets individually. The surname is likely a metathesized form of Charbonnel, a diminutive of Old French charbon (“charcoal”) in reference to hair color, complexion, or the like.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).