toc emma Mil. slang.
(tɒk ˈɛmə)
Also tock (and toch) emma and with capital initials.
[Representing T.M. (see T 6); see toc, emma.]
A trench mortar. Also transf.
| 1916 B.E.F. Times 1 Dec. f. 3/1 Completely oblivious of the dangers I encountered from our own artillery and Tock Emmas! 1918 J. H. Douglas Captured ii. 25 He turned out to be Bombardier ‘Chuck’ Gibson who was with the sixty-pound ‘Tock Emma’ (Trench Mortar) Battery located on our frontage. 1928 R. C. Sherriff Journey's End (1929) ii. ii. 57 Can't have men out there while the toch-emmas are blowing holes in the Boche wire. 1931 [see emma]. |