ballistic missile

noun

plural ballistic missiles

: a usually rocket-powered missile that is launched in a high arc under guidance for its ascent but that is unpowered and unguided once it begins its descent compare cruise missile, guided missile

Examples of ballistic missile in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As tensions with the Soviet Union escalate, Pathfinder is armed with ballistic missiles. —Richard Edwards, Space.com, 17 Apr. 2026

Roughly half of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers were still intact and thousands of one-way attack drones remained in its arsenal as of earlier this month, NBC News reported. —Elizabeth Robinson, NBC news, 17 Apr. 2026

Government lawyers have argued that the project includes critical security features to guard against a range of possible threats, such as drones, ballistic missiles and biohazards. —ABC News, 16 Apr. 2026

All the deaths occurred in the same residential building, which was first targeted by a drone, killing one person, before being struck by a ballistic missile, resulting in the further fatalities. —Daria Tarasova-Markina, CNN Money, 16 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1950, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for ballistic missile

• abyssal
• dismissal
• epistle
• bristle
• fissile
• gristle
• missal
• nissl
• thistle
• whistle

Kids Definition

ballistic missile

noun

: a missile that moves under its own power, is guided as it rises in a steeply curving path, and falls freely on the way back to earth