Other forms: bombshells
A bombshell is a piece of shocking news, or an explosive shell. Drop a bombshell, a bombshell announcement, the bombshell dropped.
The news sense is now much the commoner, and drop a bombshell is the fixed phrase. Blonde bombshell is a dated phrase for a striking woman and belongs to the film publicity of the 1930s, which is where it should probably stay.
1nounbombshellA piece of shocking news, or an explosive shell.
“The news that the factory would close came as a bombshell to the whole town.”
bombshell is a shock.
Bomb plus shell, first literal, from the nineteenth century.
From bomb + shell.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA