A dud is an

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other we ...

round or

explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

that fails to fire or detonate, respectively, on time or on command. Poorly designed devices (for example,

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mecha ...

s (IEDs)), and small devices, have higher chances of being duds. Duds are still dangerous, and can explode if handled. They have to be deactivated and disposed of carefully. In war-torn areas, many curious children have been injured or killed from tampering with such devices. The term descends from the

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old Englis ...

''dudde'', originally meaning worn-out or ragged clothing, and is a cognate of ''duds'' (i.e., "clothing") and ''dowdy''. Eventually ''dud'' became a general pejorative for something useless, including ammunition. The variation absolute dud describes a

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

that fails to explode.DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms
/ref> (A nuclear weapon which does explode, but does not achieve its expected power, is termed a fizzle.) By extension, "dud" has become a

slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gr ...

word for anything that does not work or is defective.

Other meanings

Generally ''your duds'' are "your last possessions", what you are wearing and carrying, so ''nice duds'' is ironic and possibly an

oxymoron An oxymoron (usual plural oxymorons, more rarely oxymora) is a figure of speech that juxtaposes concepts with opposing meanings within a word or phrase that creates an ostensible self-contradiction. An oxymoron can be used as a rhetorical devi ...

. Other meanings of 'dud' are: * Duds - 16th century term for "clothes". * Dud - 17th century term for "worthless". Then 17th Century term for "old clothes" and "rags". * Duddery - 17th-19th century term for a "clothier's booth", trading in old cloth and rags. * To sweat your duds - 19th century term for "to

pawn Pawn most often refers to: * Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game * Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral Pawn may also refer to: Places * Pawn, Oregon, an his ...

one's clothes" * Dudman - "Scarecrow!", possibly from

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

''Dood/dode man'' (dead man), or from the old clothes used to clothe a scarecrow. * 'Dud' is also used to describe a person who failed to meet standards in relationships.

References

{{reflist Ammunition

Other meanings

See also

References