Shrapnel

Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Financial, Idioms, Wikipedia.

shrapnel

[′shrap·nəl]

(ordnance)

Small lead or steel balls contained in a shrapnel case which is fired from an artillery piece; the balls are projected in a forward direction upon the functioning of the fuse.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Shrapnel

originally an artillery shell filled with round shot. Shrapnel is primarily intended to strike live, exposed targets. It was named for an English officer, H. Shrapnel, who in 1803 proposed filling an artillery shell with cast-iron case shot, thereby intensifying the shell’s effect. Exploded in the air at a predetermined distance from the target, shrapnel was highly effective and was widely used in World War I.

Shrapnel was replaced in the 1930’s by the more powerful fragmentation and high-explosive fragmentation shells. The late 1960’s witnessed the introduction of shrapnel-type artillery shells filled with dart-like projectiles, or fléchettes, intended to strike unconcealed enemy personnel. There are up to 8,000 such projectiles in the US 105-mm shell, each fléchette 24 mm long and weighing 0.5 g. Thrown from the shell as a result of centrifugal force and the pressure of the powder gases of the bursting charge, the fléchettes are scattered in a conical pattern.

References in periodicals archive ?

There may also be the need for external reviewers or neutral parties to intervene and assess incidences of gender shrapnel.

Gender Shrapnel in the Academic Workplace

Anwar Isma'il al-Masri (47), who sustained a shrapnel wound to his finger.

Woman Killed and 5 Security Officers Wounded in Armed Clashes in Nablus

Additional shrapnel hit a day care center in Bnei Brak.

Israelis Living Near Gaza Scared to Go Home

"My left arm was amputated because of gangrene and a big piece of shrapnel was removed from the back of the brain.

Gaza war survivor hopes to continue treatment

the doctors weren't able to reach some of the shrapnel in his brain," he said.

Man refuses to bury son

He said that even if the shrapnel were travelling at a low-velocity of 100m/s, one would still not want to be hit with it, as that's the velocity of a shotgun blast.

`Shrapnel` pose larger risk to future Moon missions than believed

Andrei Guk, who runs a medical center in Mikhailovsky Cathedral, said most of the protesters he has treated had shrapnel wounds to the face, arms and legs caused by stun grenades.

Ukraine's dead, wounded

Shrapnel The bonesaw being dull, the mortician must lean the full weight of his upper body as he cuts into the sternum.

Shrapnel

Medics said that around 40 people were injured by rubber-coated steel bullets and stun grenade shrapnel. The injured included there women, medics, and photographer Suleiman Khader who was struck with a stun grenade in the chest.

Dozens Injured in Clashes in Jerusalem

The unexploded British artillery shell, full of shrapnel balls, was blown up in a controlled explosion yesterday after being discovered near the popular stately home.

Shell blast evokes First World War days at hall

Two Syrian boys were brought to a hospital in Israel overnight, both suffering from massive shrapnel wounds sustained during the bloody civil war which has gripped their homeland, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

Two Syrian boys treated in Israel hospital

Consultant dietitian Bill Shrapnel, deputy chairman of the Sydney University Nutrition Research Foundation, also debunks the new draft prepared by a National Health and Medical Research Council working group.