ballistic missile

noun

plural ballistic missiles

: a usually rocket-powered missile that is launched in a high arc under guidance for its ascent but that is unpowered and unguided once it begins its descent compare cruise missile, guided missile

Examples of ballistic missile in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In a bid to strengthen ties with its limited international partners and secure foreign currency, Pyongyang has developed increasingly sophisticated methods to evade detection amid sanctions put in place by the United Nations to curb its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 20 Mar. 2025

The Houthis also launched a ballistic missile that crashed into the water well short of the USS Harry S. Truman, the official said. —Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 16 Mar. 2025

Catch up quick: The Houthis began launching ballistic missile and drone attacks against Israel less than two weeks after the Hamas October 7 terror attack. —Barak Ravid, Axios, 15 Mar. 2025

In the 1970s, ballistic missile interceptors were also based in Montana and North Dakota. —Stephen Peter Rosen, Foreign Affairs, 14 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1950, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for ballistic missile

• abyssal
• dismissal
• epistle
• bristle
• fissile
• gristle
• missal
• nissl
• thistle
• whistle

Kids Definition

ballistic missile

noun

: a missile that moves under its own power, is guided as it rises in a steeply curving path, and falls freely on the way back to earth