ballistic
adjective
Simple meaning
About or characteristic of the motion of objects moving under their own momentum and the force of gravity.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
buhlistikSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
bəˈlɪstɪk
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
comparable
Relating to or characteristic of the motion of objects moving under their own momentum and the force of gravity
comparable
Of or relating to projectiles moving under their own momentum, aerodynamic drag, gravity, and sometimes rocket power, without significant lift.
not comparable
Of or relating to ballistics.
comparableslang
Very angry.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
More ways to use ballistic
- “The engineer studied the ballistic trajectory of the rocket as it launched.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A moving-coil galvanometer that measures electric charge.
Identification of the gun that fired a bullet from an analysis of the unique marks that every gun makes on the bullet it fires and on the shell ejected from it.
A missile that is guided in the first part of its flight but falls freely as it approaches target.
An agency in the Department of Defense that is responsible for making ballistic missile defense a reality.
A physical pendulum consisting of a large mass suspended from a rod.
The trajectory of an object in free flight.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A defensive missile designed to shoot down incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.