shrapnel
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
shrapnel /ˈʃrapn(ə)l/
▶noun
- 1 small metal fragments thrown out by the explosion of a shell, bomb, etc.
■ shells designed to burst short of the target and shower it with such fragments.
- 2 informal small change.
– origin C19: named after the British soldier General Henry Shrapnel, inventor of shrapnel shells.
'shrapnel' also found in these Oxford entries:
