ICBM

noun

ˌī-ˌsē-(ˌ)bē-ˈem 

plural ICBM's or ICBMs ˌī-ˌsē-(ˌ)bē-ˈemz 

: an intercontinental ballistic missile

Examples of ICBM in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

While the Ministry of Defense said the system can engage threats up to the ICBM class, the latest demonstrations reportedly involved targets in the 2,000 to 5,000-kilometer range. — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 16 June 2026

The pads could be used to deploy mobile air-defense missiles, electronic warfare nodes or, from some of the larger ones, road-mobile ICBM launchers, three security scholars said. — Reuters, NBC news, 29 May 2026

By comparison, the United States’ LGM-30 Minuteman ICBM has a range of about 11,000 kilometers (6,835 miles) and is deployed with only one warhead, though it was designed to carry three. — Zahra Ullah, CNN Money, 13 May 2026

China last tested its ICBM force in September 2024—its first since the 1980s—when a DF-31AG missile carrying a dummy warhead was fired toward international waters in the South Pacific, within the region's nuclear-free zone, according to a Newsweek map. — Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1955, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

ICBM

noun

ˌī-ˌsē-(ˌ)bē-ˈem 

: an intercontinental ballistic missile