Definition

Noun: 1. A portable rocket launcher: A shoulder-fired weapon that launches unguided rockets, primarily designed for infantry to attack armored vehicles, especially tanks.

Examples of Usage

• The soldier aimed the bazooka at the enemy tank's weak spot.
• During the training exercise, they practiced loading and firing the bazooka.
• The bazooka became a famous infantry weapon in World War II.

Advanced Usage

• The term is sometimes used informally or in media to describe any large, tube-shaped, shoulder-fired weapon, though technically it refers to a specific type.
• In music, "bazooka" is also the name for a crude trombone-like instrument, but this is a separate, homographic meaning.

Variants and Related Words

• Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG): A more modern and common term for a similar type of portable anti-tank weapon. While often used interchangeably in casual speech, an RPG is technically a different weapon system.
• Anti-tank weapon: The general category of weapons designed to defeat armored fighting vehicles.

Synonyms

• Rocket launcher
• AT rocket launcher (Anti-Tank rocket launcher)

Related Phrases

• Bazooka team: A small military unit, typically consisting of a gunner and a loader, operating the weapon.
  • The bazooka team moved into position to ambush the column.

Noun

1. a portable rocket launcher used by infantrymen as an antitank weapon