bomb squad

plural bomb squads

1. A division of a police force or the military responsible for safely defusing or detonating hazardous explosive devices.

   Sam and the informant were quickly arrested, and the bomb squad defused the bombs.

   2015, Robert A Casper Sr., The FBI, a Vocation to Serve

   1 more example

   They isolate; they evacuate the area; and they call the bomb squad. We then go in and do our examination.

   1978, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Criminal Laws and Procedures, Tagging of Explosives: Hearings Before the Subcommittee..., page 181

   Synonyms: bomb disposal unit, EOD

2. ball gamesA group of players who are deemed surplus to requirements by the club and are excluded from the first-team squad training.

   Discontent can brew among what is sometimes known within football as ‘the bomb squad’ – the cabal of players who have been ‘bombed out’ by the manager.

   2016 October 26, Chris Flanagan, “Losing the dressing room: empty cliché or a real-life phenomenon?”, in FourFourTwo