Small explosive devices that are thrown by hand and detonate after a few seconds, releasing shrapnel and causing damage.
From French 'grenade,' derived from Spanish 'granada' meaning 'pomegranate,' because the round shape and seed-like pellets inside resembled a pomegranate. Military innovation transformed a fruit name into a weapon.
A pomegranate's connection to explosives is purely visual—soldiers saw round fruit filled with seeds and thought 'that looks like our new weapon.' Today we call hand bombs by a fruit's name in most world languages.
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