firebombing

Incendiary attack method

Firebombing is attacking a target with incendiary weapons designed to start fires.

The term applies to military operations—the firebombing of Dresden and Tokyo in World War II—and to smaller-scale attacks: Someone firebombed the clinic overnight.

The weapon is often a Molotov cocktail or similar improvised device.

warfare

incendiary

Causing or designed for burning

napalmFlammable gel for bombs
DresdenSaxon capital city
TokyoJapan's capital city

blitz · air raid · bombardment · conflagration · civilian · destruction · RAF · WWII · Hamburg · strategic

arson

Molotov cocktail

Improvised thrown incendiary device

accelerantCombustion-intensifying substance
criminalPerson who breaks laws
vandalismWillful property damage

hate crime · attack · property · gasoline · terrorism · deliberately · ignite · torching · felony · investigation

Categories

wartimerationing, war economy, war bonds, war effort, evacuations
destructiondestruction, destroying, demolishing, devastation, ruination
air raidsair raid, air strike, bombing, raid, bombs
airstrikesairstrike, air strike, air raid, bombing run, bombing raid
attacksattack, assault, raid, strike, offensive
military tacticstactics, flanking, maneuver, ambush, battle formations

Opposites

destructive method

firebombingprecision strike

Targeted military attack

surgical strike · water bombing · firefighting · fire suppression · aerial firefighting

intent/outcome

firebombingreconstruction

Rebuilding after destruction

rebuilding · firefighting · construction · preservation · restoration

violence spectrum

firebombingpeacekeeping

Preventing or ending conflict

peacemaking · ceasefire · armistice · diplomacy · relief effort

Family

firebombings

Familiarity: Top 200,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Negative · Everyday, not technical · Rated PG-13