reconnaissance
noun
re·con·nais·sance
ri-ˈkä-nə-zən(t)s 
-sən(t)s
: a preliminary survey to gain information
especially
: an exploratory military survey of enemy territory
Examples of reconnaissance in a Sentence
There are two helicopters available for reconnaissance.
They did a reconnaissance of the enemy's position.
Recent Examples on the Web
The same year, a group of Iraqi soldiers on a Persian Gulf island surrendered to a US Navy reconnaissance drone, according to the Air and Space Museum.
—
Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 27 Nov. 2025
Euroatlas said its new system, called Greyshark, is intended to provide long-duration reconnaissance and surveillance in coastal and deep-water environments.
—Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 27 Nov. 2025
The pair of drones, known collectively as GreyShark, were developed by German technology companies EUROATLAS and EvoLogics for reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering missions, including information on vital pipelines and cables along the seabed.
—MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025
Anduril noted last April that it was selected by the US Air Force to design and build Collaborative Combat Aircraft, which will augment the efforts of crewed fighter jets in missions like reconnaissance, surveillance, and air-to-air and air-to-ground combat without a human on board.
—Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 15 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for reconnaissance
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 27 Nov. 2025
Euroatlas said its new system, called Greyshark, is intended to provide long-duration reconnaissance and surveillance in coastal and deep-water environments.
—Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 27 Nov. 2025
The pair of drones, known collectively as GreyShark, were developed by German technology companies EUROATLAS and EvoLogics for reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering missions, including information on vital pipelines and cables along the seabed.
—MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025
Anduril noted last April that it was selected by the US Air Force to design and build Collaborative Combat Aircraft, which will augment the efforts of crewed fighter jets in missions like reconnaissance, surveillance, and air-to-air and air-to-ground combat without a human on board.
—Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 15 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for reconnaissance
Cite this Entry
“Reconnaissance.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reconnaissance. Accessed 5 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
reconnaissance
noun
re·con·nais·sance
ri-ˈkän-ə-zən(t)s
: a survey (as of enemy territory) to gain information
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share