[An English surname.]
1. More fully Congreve rocket: A kind of rocket for use in war, invented in 1808 by Col. Sir William Congreve (1772–1828).
1809. Naval Chron., XXI. 349. Shrapnell’s shells and Congreve’s rockets. Ibid., XXII. 371. A 32-pounder Congreve.
1827. Praed, Poems, Red Fisherman. Sunk in their deep and hollow sockets That blazing couple of Congreve Rockets.
1831. Carlyle, Sart. Res., II. v. Your Congreve needs a new case or wrappage for every new rocket.
2. More fully Congreve match: A particular kind of friction match, invented by Sir W. Congreve.
1839. Boston Herald, 17 Dec., 4/1. In the drawer of the table … were a quantity of Congreve matches.
1851. Mayhew, Lond. Labour, I. 431. I believe I was the first who hawked ‘Congreves,’ or ‘instantaneous lights’; they weren’t called ‘lucifers’ for a good while after.
1854. Knight, Once upon a Time, II. 274. The penny box of Lucifers, or Congreves … is a … triumph of science.
