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.

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Etymology

Origin of gunship

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

Example Sentences

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

From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026

Experts said that was probably the first such use of a helicopter gunship in the occupied West Bank since the second Palestinian uprising about 20 years ago.

From New York Times • Jun. 19, 2023

Archaeologists guessed they were possibly leftover relics from a sunken Confederate gunship excavated a few years earlier in the same area, said Andrea Farmer, an archaeologist for the Army Corps of Engineers.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 28, 2022

Mando previously flew a Razor Crest class gunship.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 26, 2022

In preparation for this, Daito and Shoto had spent the past few weeks planting microscopic tracking devices on the hulls of every Sixer gunship they could find.

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