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missile

A missile is an object that can be projected toward a target. Examples include a spitball shot through a straw, a poison-tipped arrow sent via bow, or a self-propelled heat-seeking rocket, designed to take out targets at long range.

When you learn about the Cuban Missile Crisis in history, the missiles in question were guided rockets loaded with nuclear warheads, supplied to the Cubans by the Soviet Union. A missile defense strategy is one where you send up defensive missile to blow up your enemy's offensive ones before they can reach you.

DEFINITIONS OF: missile

n a weapon that is forcibly thrown or projected at a targets but is not self-propelled

Synonyms:: projectile

Types:: show 21 types...; hide 21 types...; arrow
a projectile with a straight thin shaft and an arrowhead on one end and stabilizing vanes on the other; intended to be shot from a bow; boomerang, throw stick, throwing stick
a curved piece of wood; when properly thrown will return to thrower; bullet, slug
a projectile that is fired from a gun; cannon ball, cannonball, round shot
a solid projectile that in former times was fired from a cannon; dart
a small narrow pointed missile that is thrown or shot; seeker
a missile equipped with a device that is attracted toward some kind of emission (heat or light or sound or radio waves); pellet, shot
a solid missile discharged from a firearm; spitball
a projectile made by chewing a piece of paper and shaping it into a sphere; banderilla
a decorated dart that is implanted in the neck or shoulders of the bull during a bull fight; BB, BB shot
a small pellet fired from an air rifle or BB gun; bird shot, buckshot, duck shot
small lead shot for shotgun shells; broad arrow
an arrow with a wide barbed head; butt shaft
a blunt arrow without a barb; an arrow used for target practice; dumdum, dumdum bullet
a soft-nosed small-arms bullet that expands when it hits a target and causes a gaping wound; full metal jacket
a lead bullet that is covered with a jacket of a harder metal (usually copper); grape, grapeshot
a cluster of small projectiles fired together from a cannon to produce a hail of shot; kiley, kylie
an Australian boomerang; one side flat and the other convex; ball, musket ball
a solid projectile that is shot by a musket; quarrel
an arrow that is shot from a crossbow; has a head with four edges; rifle ball
a bullet designed to be fired from a rifle; no longer made spherical in shape; rubber bullet
a bullet made of hard rubber; designed for use in crowd control

Type of:: arm, weapon, weapon system
any instrument or instrumentality used in fighting or hunting

n a rocket carrying a warhead of conventional or nuclear explosives; may be ballistic or directed by remote control

Types:: show 14 types...; hide 14 types...; air-to-air missile
a missile designed to be launched from one airplane at another; air-to-ground missile, air-to-surface missile
a missile designed to be launched from an airplane at a target on the ground; ballistic missile
a missile that is guided in the first part of its flight but falls freely as it approaches target; guided missile
a rocket-propelled missile whose path can be controlled during flight either by radio signals or by internal homing devices; heat-seeking missile
a missile with a guidance system that directs it toward targets emitting infrared radiation (as the emissions of a jet engine); sidewinder
air-to-air missile with infrared homing device; ABM, antiballistic missile
a defensive missile designed to shoot down incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles; brilliant pebble
a code name for a small computerized heat-seeking missile that was supposed to intercept and destroy enemy missiles; V-1, buzz bomb, doodlebug, flying bomb, robot bomb
a small jet-propelled winged missile that carries a bomb; Exocet
a guided missile developed by the French government for use against ships; ICBM, intercontinental ballistic missile
a ballistic missile that is capable of traveling from one continent to another; space probe
a rocket-propelled guided missile that can escape the earth's atmosphere; makes observations of the solar system that cannot be made by terrestrial observation; Stinger
a portable low altitude surface-to-air missile system using infrared guidance and an impact fuse; fired from the shoulder; SAM, surface-to-air missile
a guided missile fired from land or shipboard against an airborne target

Type of:: projectile, rocket
any vehicle self-propelled by a rocket engine; arm, weapon, weapon system
any instrument or instrumentality used in fighting or hunting

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