candlebomb

English

Etymology

From candle +‎ bomb.

Noun

candlebomb (plural candlebombs)

1. A small glass bubble, filled with water, which, if placed in the flame of a candle, bursts by expansion of steam.
2. A pasteboard shell used in signaling, filled with a substance which makes a brilliant light when it explodes.
   • 1879, Albert James Myer, A Manual of Signals:

     sounds of guns , trumpets , bells , drums , steam - blasts , whistles , flights of rockets , explosions of candlebombs, etc.

References

• “candlebomb”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.