Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Relating to or being a bomb or explosive that releases and detonates an aerosol cloud of fuel in the air above a target, thereby creating a powerful shock wave and very high temperatures.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • General Motors Today, automakers face steep fuel-economy requirements that can be satisfied only with smaller, more efficient powertrains, resorting to all kinds of fuel-air trickery: supercharging, turbocharging, and gas-electric hybridization.

    This Buick Revs but Doesn't Roar 2011

  • The bomb, which was designed to act as a fuel-air explosive, luckily was a dud and Shahzad was arrested two days later as he tried to leave JFK Airport for Dubai.

    The Longest War Peter L. Bergen 2011

  • I think you meant “fuel-air weapon” (some of which are also thermobaric; it is also possible also to have a thermobaric weapon that is not a fuel-air weapon, as the distinguishing feature of thermobaric weapons is the blast profile and not so much the explosive involved).

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Car Bomb Found in Times Square? 2010

  • The bomb, which was designed to act as a fuel-air explosive, luckily was a dud and Shahzad was arrested two days later as he tried to leave JFK Airport for Dubai.

    The Longest War Peter L. Bergen 2011

  • Massive ordnance penetrators; lesser but precision-guided penetrators "drilling" one after another; fuel-air detonations with almost the force of nuclear weapons; high-power microwave attack; the destruction of laboratories, unhardened targets, and the Iranian electrical grid; and other means, can be combined to great effect.

    The Mortal Threat From Iran Mark Helprin 2012

  • In fact the only possible competitor to high explosives would be fuel-air explosives, but getting a high quality thermobaric device to work is more complex.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Biological Weapons Amnesia 2010

  • The bomb, which was designed to act as a fuel-air explosive, luckily was a dud and Shahzad was arrested two days later as he tried to leave JFK Airport for Dubai.

    The Longest War Peter L. Bergen 2011

  • The bomb, which was designed to act as a fuel-air explosive, luckily was a dud and Shahzad was arrested two days later as he tried to leave JFK Airport for Dubai.

    The Longest War Peter L. Bergen 2011

  • The greater the space, the greater the amount of fuel-air mix, which allows for more power.

    Glossary: Automotive Terminology 2010

  • Engine Liter Size (or engine displacement): The space available inside the engine's cylinders for the fuel-air mix.

    Glossary: Automotive Terminology 2010

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