antiaircraft

adjective an·ti·air·craft \ -ˈer-ˌkraft \

|Updated on: 20 Jul 2018

Definition of antiaircraft

: designed for or concerned with defense against air attack

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First Known Use of antiaircraft

1913

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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antiaircraft

noun

Definition of antiaircraft

: antiaircraft guns or their fire

Recent Examples of antiaircraft from the Web

The incident, a major escalation, resulted in the loss of an Israeli F-16 that was hit by Syrian antiaircraft missiles.

— noga tarnopolsky, latimes.com, "Netanyahu meets Putin in Russia to discuss Syria, Iran, security issues," 12 July 2018
The errant antiaircraft round gouged the building in 1942.

— michael e. ruane, Washington Post, "Battered by time, nature and antiaircraft fire, Lincoln Memorial gets facelift," 14 June 2018
The Israeli military retaliated by sending fighter jets into Syria, one of which crashed in northern Israel after coming under heavy antiaircraft fire.

— isabel kershner, New York Times, "Iran Fires Rockets Into Golan Heights From Syria, Israelis Say," 9 May 2018
The United States has been strongly opposed, fearing that antiaircraft weapons could fall into the hands of the country’s extremist groups.

— erin cunningham, Washington Post, "Russia strikes back as Syrian rebels take credit for shooting down fighter jet, killing pilot," 3 Feb. 2018
The British Lancaster bombers, flying at the perilous height of 60 feet above water, were raked by German antiaircraft fire, and 53 of the 133 men in the aircrews were killed.

— adam bernstein, BostonGlobe.com, "Michael Anderson, 98, acclaimed director," 30 Apr. 2018
The British Lancaster bombers, flying at the perilous height of 60 feet above water, were raked by German antiaircraft fire, and 53 of the 133 men in the aircrews were killed.

— adam bernstein, Washington Post, "Michael Anderson, ‘Dam Busters’ director, dies at 98," 30 Apr. 2018
All of the coalition missiles were fired from warplanes or naval vessels in the Red Sea, Persian Gulf and eastern Mediterranean Sea, hundreds of miles from their targets and out of range of Syria's antiaircraft batteries.

— tracy wilkinson, latimes.com, "Trump declares 'Mission Accomplished!' with Syria airstrikes as Assad holds on to power," 14 Apr. 2018
Their reach was demonstrated in February when an Israeli F-16 fighter jet crashed amid Syrian antiaircraft fire.

— anne gearan, Washington Post, "U.S. launches missile strikes in Syria," 13 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'antiaircraft.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.