missile

[ mis-uhl or, especially British, -ahyl ]
See synonyms for missile on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. an object or weapon for throwing, hurling, or shooting, as a stone, bullet, or arrow.

adjective
  1. capable of being thrown, hurled, or shot, as from the hand or a gun.

  2. used or designed for discharging missiles.

Origin of missile

1
1600–10; <Latin, neuter of missilis, equivalent to miss(us) (past participle of mittere to send, throw) + -ilis-ile

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use missile in a sentence

  • The wind sang in his ears, and rock, bush, and stunted tree flashed by like so many missiles hurled at him by a giant hand.

    Motor Matt's "Century" Run | Stanley R. Matthews
  • But they came up too late to catch the Whites, who had crossed the ditch and were sheltered from their missiles.

    The Border Rifles | Gustave Aimard
  • All the books were to be collected, either to serve as missiles, or to be burned; that was not quite settled.

    Digby Heathcote | W.H.G. Kingston
  • Next morning he stationed ships supplied with missiles of every sort, all along the seaboard, under the command ofThe assault.

  • Besides, their missiles were beginning to fall short; and the number of men they had lost greatly disheartened them.

British Dictionary definitions for missile

missile

/ (ˈmɪsaɪl) /


noun
  1. any object or weapon that is thrown at a target or shot from an engine, gun, etc

    • a rocket-propelled weapon that flies either in a fixed trajectory (ballistic missile) or in a trajectory that can be controlled during flight (guided missile)

    • (as modifier): a missile carrier

Origin of missile

1
C17: from Latin: missilis, from mittere to send

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012