intercontinental ballistic missile

American  

noun

1. any supersonic missile that has a range of at least 3500 nautical miles (6,500 km) and follows a ballistic trajectory after a powered, guided launching. ICBM, I.C.B.M.

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intercontinental ballistic missile British  

/ ˌɪntəˌkɒntɪˈnɛntəl /

noun

1.  ICBM.  a missile that follows a ballistic trajectory and has the range to carry a nuclear bomb over 5500 km

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intercontinental ballistic missile Cultural  

1. A missile with a long range (five thousand miles or more) that carries nuclear warheads and can be launched from the ground or from submarines. (See also MIRV.)

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Etymology

Origin of intercontinental ballistic missile

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

intercontinental ballistic missile

In September 2024, China carried out its first intercontinental ballistic missile test in decades, launching a dummy warhead from Hainan island in southern China into waters near French Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

China's capacity to strike Australia would grow over the next decade as "the DF-27 intermediate-range ballistic missile, and potentially a conventionally armed intercontinental ballistic missile, grow in service numbers", it said.

From Barron's ● Jun. 14, 2026

Strolling alongside her father in front of a towering intercontinental ballistic missile, she wore black trousers and a white padded jacket with her long hair tied back.

From BBC ● May 5, 2026

Troubles, however, are also quaking on the offensive side of America’s nuclear-weapons enterprise—specifically, the program to build a new land-based intercontinental ballistic missile, the Sentinel, to replace the 400 current ICBMs, known as Minuteman IIIs.

From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2025

Each mission presented myriad pathways to disaster, starting with the notoriously temperamental Atlas rocket, a ninety-five-foot-high, 3.5-million-horsepower intercontinental ballistic missile that had been modified to propel the Mercury capsule into orbit.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

Related Words

• guided missile