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kamikaze
[ kah-mi-kah-zee ]
noun
- (during World War II) a member of a special corps in the Japanese air force charged with the suicidal mission of crashing an aircraft laden with explosives into an enemy target, especially a warship.
- an airplane used for this purpose.
- a person or thing that behaves in a wildly reckless or destructive manner:
We were nearly run down by a kamikaze on a motorcycle.
adjective
- of, pertaining to, undertaken by, or characteristic of a kamikaze:
a kamikaze pilot; a kamikaze attack.
kamikaze
/ ˌkæmɪˈkɑːzɪ /
noun
- (in World War II) one of a group of Japanese pilots who performed suicidal missions by crashing their aircraft, loaded with explosives, into an enemy target, esp a ship
- an aircraft used for such a mission
- modifier (of an action) undertaken or (of a person) undertaking an action in the knowledge that it will result in the death of the person performing it in order that maximum damage may be inflicted on an enemy
a kamikaze bomber
a kamikaze attack
- modifier extremely foolhardy and possibly self-defeating
kamikaze pricing
kamikaze
- Japanese fighter pilots in World War II , trained to make suicide crashes into Allied ships.
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Word History and Origins
Origin of kamikaze1
1940–45; < Japanese, equivalent to kami ( y ) god (earlier *kamui ) + kaze wind (earlier *kanzai
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Word History and Origins
Origin of kamikaze1
C20: from Japanese, from kami divine + kaze wind, referring to the winds that, according to Japanese tradition, destroyed a Mongol invasion fleet in 1281
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