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grenade
grenade , small bomb filled with explosives, gas, or chemicals and either thrown by hand or shot from a modified rifle or a grenade launcher. Grenades were in use as early as the 15th cent., and men trained to use them were called grenadiers. As the grenade fell into disfavor, however, the name gre...
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tear gas
tear gas gas that causes temporary blindness through the excessive flow of tears resulting from irritation of the eyes. The gas is used in chemical warfare and as a means for dispersing mobs. Compounds that cause lacrimation (watering of the eyes) include bromoacetone, benzyl bromide, chloroaceto...
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explosive
explosive substance that undergoes decomposition or combustion with great rapidity, evolving much heat and producing a large volume of gas. The reaction products fill a much greater volume than that occupied by the original material and exert an enormous pressure, which can be used for blasting and...
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pyrotechnics
pyrotechnics , technology of making and using fireworks. Gunpowder was used in fireworks by the Chinese as early as the 9th cent., and it was they who brought fireworks to a high stage of development. The use of fireworks for display has spread throughout the world. In many countries fireworks are u...
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trench warfare
trench warfare Although trenches were used in ancient and medieval warfare, in the American Civil War, and in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-5), they did not become important until World War I. The introduction of rapid-firing small arms and artillery made the infantry charges of earlier wars virtu...
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chemical warfare
chemical warfare employment in war of incendiaries, poison gases , and other chemical substances. Ancient armies attacking or defending fortified cities threw burning oil and fireballs. A primitive type of flamethrower was employed as early as the 5th cent. BC; modern types are still in use. In ...
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The Philippines
The Philippines , officially Republic of the Philippines, republic (2005 est. pop. 87,857,000), 115,830 sq mi (300,000 sq km), SW Pacific, in the Malay Archipelago off the SE Asia mainland. It comprises over 7,000 islands and rocks, of which only c.400 are permanently inhabited. The 11 largest islan...
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recoilless rifle
recoilless rifle light artillery piece, without recoil, usually operated by two men. An American invention, it was used as an infantry weapon for attacking fortifications such as pillboxes and bunkers during the last months of World War II and later in the Korean and Vietnam wars. Unlike standard a...
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Enfield
Enfield outer borough (1991 pop. 249,100) of Greater London, SE England. It is residential, with important concentrations of industry. Rifles, electrical products, boilers, chemicals, cables, textiles, and cement are the leading manufactures. The poets John Keats and William Cowper lived within...
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shooting
shooting firing with rifle, shotgun, pistol, or revolver at stationary or moving targets. The term shooting is also used in Great Britain to mean small-game hunting .
In the 19th cent. the sport of rifle shooting became increasingly popular in England and in the United States, where the Nat...
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