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ack-ack

or Ack-Ack

[ak-ak]
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noun Informal. (esp. during World War II)
  1. antiaircraft fire.
  2. antiaircraft arms.
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Origin of ack-ack

1935–40; for A.A. (abbreviation of a(nti) a(ircraft)) as said by British signalmen referring to sense 2
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for ack-ack

Historical Examples

  • That was a score for the Ack-Ack gunners and the ground boys.

    A Yankee Flier with the R.A.F.

    Rutherford G. Montgomery

  • "The ack-ack will knock those planes out of the sky," one of the sailors said.

    The Lost Warship

    Robert Moore Williams

  • The Jerries were at it again and seemed to have slipped inside the balloons and the ring of Ack-Ack guns.

    A Yankee Flier with the R.A.F.

    Rutherford G. Montgomery

British Dictionary definitions for ack-ack

ack-ack

noun military
    1. anti-aircraft fire
    2. (as modifier)ack-ack guns
  2. anti-aircraft arms
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Word Origin

C20: British army World War I phonetic alphabet for AA, abbreviation of anti-aircraft
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 ack-ack

1939, representing A.A., the military abbreviation for anti-aircraft (see ack).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper