[1] In a military context the word is often used to refer to an ammunition round or explosive that fails to fire or detonate as expected.
[citation needed] During the Continuation War 1941-1944, Finns estimated up to 20% to 30% of all Soviet shells would be duds.
In war-torn areas, many curious children have been injured or killed from tampering with such devices.
The variation absolute dud describes a nuclear weapon that fails to explode.
[2] (A nuclear weapon which does explode, but does not achieve its expected power, is termed a fizzle.)