PROJECTILE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does projectile mean? 

• PROJECTILE (noun)
  The noun PROJECTILE has 2 senses:

1. a weapon that is forcibly thrown or projected at a targets but is not self-propelled

2. any vehicle self-propelled by a rocket engine

  Familiarity information: PROJECTILE used as a noun is rare.

• PROJECTILE (adjective)
  The adjective PROJECTILE has 1 sense:

1. impelling or impelled forward

  Familiarity information: PROJECTILE used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PROJECTILE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A weapon that is forcibly thrown or projected at a targets but is not self-propelled

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

missile; projectile

Hypernyms ("projectile" is a kind of...):

arm; weapon; weapon system (any instrument or instrumentality used in fighting or hunting)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "projectile"):

arrow (a projectile with a straight thin shaft and an arrowhead on one end and stabilizing vanes on the other; intended to be shot from a bow)

boomerang; throw stick; throwing stick (a curved piece of wood; when properly thrown will return to thrower)

bullet; slug (a projectile that is fired from a gun)

cannon ball; cannonball; round shot (a solid projectile that in former times was fired from a cannon)

dart (a small narrow pointed missile that is thrown or shot)

seeker (a missile equipped with a device that is attracted toward some kind of emission (heat or light or sound or radio waves))

pellet; shot (a solid missile discharged from a firearm)

spitball (a projectile made by chewing a piece of paper and shaping it into a sphere)

Derivation:

projectile (impelling or impelled forward)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any vehicle self-propelled by a rocket engine

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

projectile; rocket

Hypernyms ("projectile" is a kind of...):

vehicle (a conveyance that transports people or objects)

Meronyms (parts of "projectile"):

rocket; rocket engine (a jet engine containing its own propellant and driven by reaction propulsion)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "projectile"):

missile (a rocket carrying a warhead of conventional or nuclear explosives; may be ballistic or directed by remote control)

multistage rocket; step rocket (a rocket having two or more rocket engines (each with its own fuel) that are fired in succession and jettisoned when the fuel is exhausted)

research rocket; test instrument vehicle; test rocket (a rocket fired for test purposes)

Derivation:

projectile (impelling or impelled forward)

• PROJECTILE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Impelling or impelled forward

Context example:

a projectile missile

Similar:

dynamic; dynamical (characterized by action or forcefulness or force of personality)

Derivation:

projectile (a weapon that is forcibly thrown or projected at a targets but is not self-propelled)

projectile (any vehicle self-propelled by a rocket engine)

 Context examples 

Then, and not until then, would he flash from his hiding- place, a grey projectile, incredibly swift, never failing its mark—the fleeing squirrel that fled not fast enough.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Clinical signs and symptoms appear early in life and include projectile vomiting and dehydration.

(Hypertrophic Pyloric Stenosis, NCI Thesaurus)

Using numerical simulations, they deduced that Hygiea’s spherical shape and large family of asteroids are likely the result of a major head-on collision with a large projectile of diameter between 75 and 150 km.

(ESO Telescope Reveals What Could be the Smallest Dwarf Planet Yet in the Solar System, ESO)