Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BOMB, n. [L. bombus; Gr. βομβος.]

1. A great noise. – Bacon.
2. A large shell of cast iron, round and hollow, with a vent to receive a fusee, which is made of wood. This being filled with gunpowder and the fusee driven into the vent, the fusee is set on fire and the bomb is thrown from a mortar, in such a direction as to fall into a fort, city, or enemy's camp, when it bursts with great violence and often with terrible effect. The inventor of bombs is not known; they came into common use about the year 1634. – Encyc.
3. The stroke upon a bell.