Minuteman
[min-it-man]
- (sometimes lowercase) a member of a group of American militiamen just before and during the Revolutionary War who held themselves in readiness for instant military service.
- a U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile with three stages, powered by solid-propellant rocket engines.
- a member of a small, secret, ultraconservative organization formed into armed groups for the declared purpose of conducting guerrilla warfare against a communist invasion of the U.S.
Origin of Minuteman
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for minuteman
Contemporary Examples
At some point, Forde founded her own outfit, the Minuteman American Defense.
But I did find a photograph of my brother, dressed as a minuteman, and one of me in costume, too.
Historical Examples
The minuteman wanted to go back to ordinary life and his family.
Average AmericansTheodore Roosevelt
Minuteman
- (sometimes not capital) (in the War of American Independence) a colonial militiaman who promised to be ready to fight at one minute's notice
- a US three-stage intercontinental ballistic missile
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
Word Origin and History for minuteman
n.
U.S. history, one of a class of militia available for immediate service (i.e. "ready in a matter of minutes"), 1774. As the name of a type of ICBM, from 1961, so called because they could be launched with very little preparation.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper