ack-ack
Americannoun
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antiaircraft fire.
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antiaircraft arms.
noun
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anti-aircraft fire
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( as modifier )
ack-ack guns
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anti-aircraft arms
Etymology
Origin of ack-ack
1935–40; for A.A. (abbreviation of a(nti) a(ircraft) ) as said by British signalmen referring to sense 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“The surface vessels were throwing up a tremendous barrage of ack-ack fire.”
From New York Times
More recent history lies in the second world war ack-ack gun emplacements, still in good shape, but more and more engulfed by the vegetation every year.
From The Guardian
The ack-ack guns make so much noise you can’t hear your own voice.
From Literature
Atkinson beautifully conjures London under siege, with the blackout and the bombing and the “ack-ack guns being assembled” in Hyde Park.
From New York Times
Tales are legion of journalists prepared with probing, deeply researched questions who find themselves confronted with answers consisting of “Yeah,” “No” or “I don’t know” spit back at them like ack-ack fire.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
