cruise missile

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noun
  1. a winged guided missile designed to deliver a conventional or nuclear warhead by flying at low altitudes to avoid detection by radar.

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British Dictionary definitions for cruise missile

cruise missile

noun
  1. an air-breathing low-flying subsonic missile that is continuously powered and guided throughout its flight and carries a warhead

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

Cultural definitions for cruise missile

cruise missile

A military missile equipped with an onboard computer that allows it to guide itself on a preprogrammed course over long distances by sensing the terrain and comparing it to maps stored in its memory. (See smart weapons (see also smart weapons).)

Notes for cruise missile

Cruise missiles first came into public awareness during the Persian Gulf War.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.