ˈbomb-proof, a. and n.
[see proof.]
A. adj. a. Strong enough to resist bombs or shells. Also transf. and fig.
| 1702 T. Marwood in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. VII. 124 Walls & Vaults all Bombe proof [of Fort]. 1734 A. Williamson Diary (1912) 85 So that it is bomb proof as I believe all the arched cellers in the Towers are. 1755 Gentl. Mag. XXV. 390 There is no magazine bomb-proof. 1858 Beveridge Hist. India III. viii. viii. 518 The grand mosque, which was supposed to be bomb-proof. 1862 F. Griffiths Artil. Man. (ed. 9) 248 Casemates..are made bomb-proof. 1915 G. B. Shaw in New Statesman 13 Mar. 559/2 In Dunkirk, Düsseldorf, Freiburg and other towns where the women and children, being foreign, are conventionally assumed by us to be naturally bomb-proof. 1918 Flying 6 Feb. 90/1 A bomb penetrated the building..in what was regarded as a more or less bomb-proof shelter. 1940 N. Marsh Surfeit of Lampreys (1941) vii. 104 Each locked up inside his mental bomb-proof shelter. |
b. Not exposed to the dangers of war. U.S.
| 1867 Harper's Wkly. 6 Apr. 211/1 The ‘bomb-proof’ editors will probably continue to repeat the heroics of the war. 1868 Putnam's Mag. I. 715/1 During the late war the Simminses did their share of the fighting, for..none of them had influence to get ‘bomb-proof’ places, and keep in the rear. 1928 S. V. Benét John Brown's Body 155 Muddy Washington..full of..‘Bombproof’ officers, veterans back on leave. |
B. n. a. Bomb-proof shelter or structure.
| 1755 J.Thomas Diary in F. Parkman Montcalm & Wolfe (1898) I. 260 One of our large shells fell through what they called their bomb-proof. 1780 W. Heath Let. 2 Feb. in Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. (1905) V. 28 The bunks and lineing of the bomb proof were taken out. 1809 J. Barlow Columb. vii. 618 And housed in bomb-proof all the host she bore. 1811 Wellington Let. in Gurw. Disp. VII. 262, I do not think bomb proof absolutely necessary. 1861 Russell in Times 11 June, We entered a lofty bomb-proof, which was the bed-room of the commanding officer. 1870 Daily News 12 Nov., In the rear of the bomb-proofs..were the earthworks..for batteries of field guns. 1918 E. M. Roberts Flying Fighter iii. 26, I was obliged to find shelter in a bomb-proof. |
b. One who avoids exposure to the dangers of war. Also ˈbomb-proofer. orig. U.S.
| 1869 Overland Monthly III. 128 In the cis-Mississippi States they were generally dubbed ‘bomb-proofs’. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 281 Officials who were not expected to expose themselves to the fire of the enemy, like quartermasters, commissaries, etc. were nicknamed bomb-proofs. 1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 32 Bomb-proofer, a man given to scheming methods of evading duty on dangerous occasions. 1936 M. Mitchell Gone with Wind xviii. 314 Things must be in a desperate pass if this rabble of bombproofers, old men and little boys were being called out! 1950 R. Chandler Let. 18 May (1962) 88 Doesn't he [sc. Partridge] overlook some of the most commonly used words of soldier-slang? E.g. ‘bomb-proofer’, ‘cushy job’, ‘bivvy’. |