improvised explosive device
Homemade roadside weapon
An improvised explosive device is a homemade bomb constructed from available materials rather than manufactured military ordnance.
Commonly abbreviated IED, the term gained currency during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, where such weapons—often hidden in roads or vehicles—caused extensive casualties among coalition forces.
The phrase distinguishes these weapons from conventional mines and grenades.
- petrol bombImprovised firebomb in glass
- Molotov cocktailImprovised thrown incendiary device
- bombExplosive device or disaster
- booby trapHidden device to harm
- trip wireConcealed activating filament
hand grenade · Iraq War · combat zone · blasting caps · detonator · remote detonation · bomb squad · guerrilla warfare · suicide bombing · asymmetric warfare · militant · ambush · roadside bomb · conflict · shrapnel · weapon of mass destruction · EOD · casualties
- military engineeringengineers, combat engineer, combat engineers, sappers, sapper
- Explosivesbomb, dynamite, grenade, TNT, C-4
improvise, improvised, improvising, improvisation, improvisational, improvisatory, improviser, explosive, explode