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Missile

 - 3 dictionary results

mis⋅sile

  [mis-uhl or, especially Brit., -ahyl]
Use Missile in a Sentence
–noun
1. an object or weapon for throwing, hurling, or shooting, as a stone, bullet, or arrow.
2. guided missile.
3. ballistic missile.
–adjective
4. capable of being thrown, hurled, or shot, as from the hand or a gun.
5. used or designed for discharging missiles.
Origin:
1600–10; < L, neut. of missilis, equiv. to miss(us) (ptp. of mittere to send, throw) + -ilis -ile
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Missile
mis·sile   (mĭs'əl, -īl')   
n.  

  1. An object or weapon that is fired, thrown, dropped, or otherwise projected at a target; a projectile.

  2. A guided missile.

  3. A ballistic missile.


[Latin, from neuter of missilis, able to be thrown, from missus, past participle of mittere, to let go, throw.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

missile 
1611 (adj.) "capable of being thrown," chiefly in phrase missile weapon, from Fr. missile, from L. missile "weapon that can be thrown," from missus, pp. of mittere "to send." The noun meaning "thing thrown or discharged as a weapon" is from 1656. Sense of "self-propelled rocket or bomb" is first recorded 1738; the modern remote guidance projectile so called from 1945.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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