Bôm/bar-diēr'-bee/tle, n.

n. (Entom.) A kind of beetle, the Brachinus crepitans, which, when disturbed, makes an explosive discharge with a sort of smoke or vapor, which is acrid and of a pungent odor; hence the name. The name is applied to other species of the same genus, as the B. diplosor, which can produce ten or twelve explosions successively. Baird.