Noun

(en noun)

A fuel metering/delivery pump at a filling station.

* 2001 , Michael Gordon, Reconciliation: A Journey , page 18,

‘Kids are breaking into the service station bowsers' at night, draining out the dregs of petrol from the ' bowser hoses, wandering the streets sniffing petrol from Coke bottles all night,’ he said.

* 2008 , Adrian Scott, The Road Gets Better from Here , page 165,

I needed at least fifteen litres more petrol in my tank to reach the next major settlement and, unlike China, there were no shiny new gas stations here with bowsers of different types of petrol to choose from, nor were there pretty young gas girls in nice uniforms ready to fill ‘er up – in fact there were no gas stations here at all; petrol was bought and sold strictly off market in private transactions.

* 2010 , David Nichols, Green Fields, Brown Fields, New Fields , footnote citing 1926 report, page 309,

The Moree Municipal Council decided to devote the revenue derived from the rent of the bowser petrol pumps within the municipality for this year, which amounted to forty guineas.

A road vehicle (often a trailer) for the transport of liquid fuel, particularly aviation fuel at an airfield.

* 1962 , The All England Law Reports , Volume 3, page 435,

The bowsers then go out to the aircraft and supply them with petrol.

* 2003 , Andy Saunders, No 43 ‘Fighting Cocks’ Squadron , page 107,

By the time No 43 Sqn was given permission to land it was quite dark, and so to assist the pilots in what were to be difficult night landings two petrol bowsers' were parked to ‘illuminate’ the runway with their dim blackout headlights. Perhaps, all things considered, the use of petrol ' bowsers for this particular task was not exactly wise.

(British) A mobile water tank deployed to distribute fresh water in emergency situations where the normal system of piped distribution has broken down or is insufficient.

* 1999 May 12, Kenya National Assembly Official Record (Hansard) , page 588,

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as hon. Shidie has said, there is no water bowser' in Garissa and he categorically said that there is a water '''bowser''' to supply water to the people of Kulan. Could he give the registration number of this water ' bowser which is supplying water to the people of Kulan?

* 2000 , Louis L. Jacobs, Quest for the African Dinosaurs: Ancient Roots of the Modern World , page 112,

The water bowser needed filling.

* 2010 , P. Dissanayake, N. Weragala, V. Smakhtin, Environmental Flow Assessment: Recent Examples from Sri Lanka'', Alexandra Evans, K. Jinapala (editors), ''Proceedings of the National Conference on Water, Food Security and Climate Change in Sri Lanka , Volume 2, page 29,

Due to increasing levels of water pollution arising from low flows, water becomes unsuitable for bathing during this period and is satisfied by bowser water supply.

(Irish, slang, used in the vocative) A derogatory term of address for a person similar to buffoon or imbecile.

Noun

(en noun)

An explosive device used or intended as a weapon.

* 2008 , Sidney Gelb, Foreign Service Agent , page 629,

The size of the ground hole crater from the blast indicates it was a bomb .

# (label) The atomic bomb.

# (label) Events or conditions that have a speedy destructive effect.

#*{{quote-magazine, date=2014-04-25, author= Martin Lukacs

, volume=190, issue=20, page=13, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Canada becoming launch-pad of a global tar sands and oil shale frenzy , passage=If Alberta’s reserves are a carbon bomb , this global expansion of tar sands and oil shale exploitation amounts to an escalating emissions arms race, the unlocking of a subterranean cache of weapons of mass ecological destruction.}}

(label) A failure; an unpopular commercial product.

* 1997 , Eric L. Flom, Chaplin in the Sound Era: An Analysis of the Seven Talkies , page 277,

Projection problems plagued Countess? London premiere on January 5, 1967, Jerry Epstein recalled, and it was perhaps an omen, for reaction by critics afterward was swift and immediate: The film was a bomb .

* 2010 , (Tony Curtis), (Peter Golenbock), American Prince: My Autobiography , unnumbered page,

The movie was a bomb and so was my next film, Balboa , in which I played a scheming real estate tycoon.

* 2011 , Elizabeth Barfoot Christian, Rock Brands: Selling Sound in a Media Saturated Culture , page 11,

The movie was a bomb , but it put the band before an even larger audience.

# A car in poor condition.

#* 2005 August 6, Warm affection for a rust-bucket past , [http://www.smh.com.au/news/words/warm-affection-for-a-rustbucket-past/2005/08/04/1123125839592.html]

Nowadays, an old bomb simply won’t pass the inspection.

#* 2010 , Rebecca James, Beautiful Malice , page 19,

We?ve got the money and it just feels ridiculous to let you drive around in that old bomb .

#* 2011 , Amarinda Jones, Seducing Celestine , page 49,

After two weeks of driving it she knew the car was a bomb and she did not need anyone saying it to her. The only one allowed to pick on her car was her. Piece of crap car

A large amount of money, a fortune.

* 2009 , Matthew Vierling, The Blizzard , page 133,

When Kiley presented Blackpool with the custom shotgun, he said, “This must?ve cost a bomb .”

* 2010 , Liz Young, Fair Game , page 136,

‘You?ve already spent a bomb !’

‘Not on'' it, Sal — ''under it. Presents!’ As we eventually staggered up to bed, Sally said to me, ‘I hope to God he?s not been spending a bomb on presents, too.’

* 2011 , Michael R. Häack, Passport: A Novel of International Intrigue , page 47,

The kids cost a bomb to feed, they eat all the time.

* 2011 , Bibe, A Victim , page 38,

He had recently exchanged his old bike for a new, three speed racer, which cost a bomb and the weekly payment were becoming difficult, with the dangers of repossession.

(label) Something highly effective or attractive.

# A success; the bomb.

# A very attractive woman; a bombshell.

# An action or statement that causes a strong reaction.

# A long forward pass.

# (label) A jump into water in a squatting position, with the arms wrapped around the legs, for maximum splashing.

(label) A heavy-walled container designed to permit chemical reactions under high pressure.

* 2008 , François Cardarelli, Materials Handbook: A Concise Desktop Reference , page 276,

The process consisted in preparing the metal by metallothermic reduction of titanium tetrachloride with sodium metal in a steel bomb .

(label) A great booming noise; a hollow sound.

* (Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)

A pillar of irona great bomb in the chamber beneath.