SAM
3
6.0
- noun
- Specialized
:
misil tierra-aire
- In the exercise, the troops practiced launching SAMs to intercept enemy aircraft.
- SAM missiles
- SAM air missiles
- SAM radar
Examples
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Within seconds, you'll be fired upon by enemy SAMs.
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The faster you navigate this canyon, the harder it'll be to stay under the radar of these enemy SAMs.
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Even if a rescue team could make it past their SAMs, coming to get us would be an act of war.
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Our job, the task of the Intruder, is to kill SAMs.
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NATO designated the shoulder-fired, heat-seeking SAMs they were using as SA-16s.
Fiction book (1996) -
Under those conditions, there's no conceivable way that a few hundred soldiers and a few dozen helicopters can adequately secure enough ground against terrorists equipped with handheld SAMs.
Fiction book (1996) -
There are numerous reports that Russia and China have also covertly sold Iran an array of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), combat aircraft, sophisticated radar systems, and fast-attack missile vessels.
Academic text (2010) -
The military has deployed SAMs to protect against possible airstrikes.
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During the conflict, several SAMs were fired from the ground to target incoming planes.
Synonyms
19
6.3
A weapon launched from the ground or a ship to destroy aircraft in the sky
10
4.1
A rocket that can change its path in flight to hit a target
Compounds
1
8.1
A leather belt with a strap over the right shoulder used in military or police uniforms to carry a sword
Surface Forms
Morphology
SAM = S + A + M
This is an initialism/acronym (S-A-M) whose letters stand for phrase components; the letters themselves give no semantic clue to an average learner.
Etymology
SAM is short for surface-to-air missile, which literally joins the words 'surface' and 'air'. It is a missile launched from the ground or a ship up into the air to hit enemy aircraft, so SAMs are used to defend against planes.