ballistic
Americanadjective
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of or relating to ballistics.
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having its motion determined or describable by the laws of exterior ballistics.
idioms
adjective
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of or relating to ballistics
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denoting or relating to the flight of projectiles after power has been cut off, moving under their own momentum and the external forces of gravity and air resistance
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(of a measurement or measuring instrument) depending on a brief impulse or current that causes a movement related to the quantity to be measured
a ballistic pendulum
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informal to become enraged or frenziedly violent
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(of materials) strong enough to resist damage by projectile weapons
ballistic nylon
Other Word Forms
- ballistically adverb
Etymology
Origin of ballistic
First recorded in 1765–75; ballist(a) + -ic
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He said two ballistic missiles were also "fired in the direction of Cyprus" but added that "we're pretty sure they weren't targeted at Cyprus".
From BBC
These air defence destroyers can also shoot down drones and ballistic missiles.
From BBC
On top of that, there have been strikes on Iran's ballistic missile programme.
From Barron's
The spokesperson for Kuwait's ministry of defence posted on X that the Ali Al-Salem airbase had been targeted by a number of ballistic missiles, but that Kuwaiti air defence forces had successfully intercepted them.
From BBC
That includes lower-surface cruise missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles that fire up and over the roughly 35,000 feet that commercial flights typically operate at.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
