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gunship

American  
[guhn-ship] / ˈgʌnˌʃɪp /

noun

  1. a helicopter or fixed-wing airplane armed with rapid-fire guns or cannons and used to provide close air support for troops in combat.


Etymology

Origin of gunship

First recorded in 1965–70; gun 1 + ship 1

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.

See Examples For:

Another video shows the Born Free singer pumping his fist before a second gunship appears to fly by his mansion, which he has dubbed the Southern White House.

From BBC Mar. 31, 2026

The government spent $14 million salvaging the sunken remains of the ironclad Confederate gunship CSS Georgia, which had been scuttled in the river during the Civil War.

From Seattle Times Mar. 25, 2022

Mando previously flew a Razor Crest class gunship.

From Los Angeles Times Jan. 26, 2022

One of the company’s first government contracts was to design a system that could allow a C-130 gunship, widely used as a transport aircraft in dangerous battlefield conditions, to effectively see through clouds.

From Washington Post Apr. 3, 2021

“So they must have taken the precaution of moving some of their avatars outside of Sector Ten. They were probably waiting in a gunship just across the sector border, where it was safe.”

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

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