napalm

plural napalms

1. uncountableusuallyA highly flammable, viscous substance, designed to stick to the body while burning, used in warfare as an incendiary especially in wooded areas.First known use 1942

   Phuc was photographed aged nine as she ran, unclothed and screaming in agony, after napalm was dropped by a South Vietnamese Skyraider attack aircraft.

   2022 July 1, Rebecca Ratcliffe, “‘Napalm girl’ Phan Thi Kim Phuc receives final burn treatment after 50 years”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 16 Aug 2022

   1 more example

   A trio of needle-nosed silver Phantom jets descended from the clouds and dropped a colossal load of napalm on the jungle. Flames turned the screen red and orange. Silence followed. “You smell that?” Kilgore said, almost to himself. Then, louder, “You smell that?” Lance, the champion surfer, asked “What?” Kilgore, lit by the glow of burning trees, retorted, “Napalm, son—nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed for 12 hours, and when it was all over I walked up; we didn’t find one of ’em … not one stinking dink body. But the smell—you know, that gasoline smell—the whole hill—it smelled like … victory.”

   2013 April 1, Robert M. Neer, “PARIAH”, in Napalm: An American Biography, Harvard University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 140

2. figurativelyuncountableusuallyAnything very incendiary; dynamite.

   sexual napalm

   1 more example

   When leaked, the controversial documents proved to be political napalm.

present singular third person napalms · participle present napalming · participle past napalmed · past napalmed

1. transitiveTo spray or attack with napalm.First known use 1950