proximity fuze

noun

1. a design for detonating a charge, as in a projectile, within a predesignated radius of a target.

Word History and Origins

Origin of proximity fuze¹

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

After the burnout of motors, the missile, which would then weigh about 800 pounds, would approach the targeted aircraft and a proximity fuze would detonate its warhead, causing its sleeves to shatter into diamond-shaped bits about the size of a quarter.

From New York Times

But the SA-11 is a member of a class of weapon that carries a fragmenting warhead with a proximity fuze.

From New York Times

It also has a longer range, a proximity fuze and a larger warhead.

From New York Times

Great fleets on the sea or in the air will be canceled out by the guided bomb, the guided missile, the proximity fuze, he thinks.

From Time Magazine Archive

His third was a graze; so close that its proximity fuze functioned, detonating the cyclonite-packed war-head.

From Project Gutenberg