cruise missile

noun

: a guided missile that has a terrain-following radar system and that flies at moderate speed and low altitude

Examples of cruise missile in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Tomahawk is a long-range cruise missile launched from US Navy surface ships and submarines. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 12 Nov. 2026

The Houthis have learned to combine ballistic and cruise missiles with long-range drones to overwhelm Saudi defenses, according to analysts. — Tim Lister, CNN Money, 8 Nov. 2026

Images released by Pyongyang appeared to show the cruise missile carrying a cluster warhead, according to Shin Jong-woo, secretary general of the Korea Defense & Security Forum. — Reuters, NBC news, 5 Nov. 2026

Also, a Russian cruise missile killed two 15-year-old girls in the northern city of Chernihiv, and three civilians died when a Russian drone hit an apartment block in Kremenchuk in central Ukraine, authorities said. — Arkansas Online, 30 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1959, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for cruise missile

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