dumdum
noun
Forms dumdums dum-dum dum dum dumb dumb dumb-dumb dumbdumb
- noun A soft-nosed or hollow point bullet, or a lead bullet incised on the tip with a cross, which expands on impact to cause a greater than normal wound or impact site.
- noun (childish or endearing) An ignorant person; an idiot.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Dum Dum, a city in India where the type of bullet was developed, from Hindi दम दम (dam dam) (Bengali দমদম (domodom)), from Hindi दमदमा (damadmā, “tenaille, a raised mound or battery”).
A reduplication of the adjective dumb.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “dumdum”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details