air-to-ground missile

1 5.8

A weapon that a plane fires to hit targets on the ground

noun
/ɛr tə ɡraʊnd ˈmɪsəl/

Specialized

: misil aire-tierra

Examples

I need four F-16s equipped with air-to-ground missiles within... (consults wristwatch)... twenty-six hours. LT. FISK

Fiction book (1996)
The military aircraft launched an air-to-ground missile to hit the enemy's supply base.
In a recent training exercise, pilots perfected their skills in targeting land objectives with air-to-ground missiles.
The fighter jet carried several air-to-ground missiles designed for precision strikes against ground targets.

Synonyms

air-to-surface missile

vsair-to-ground missile

Specialized

1 6.7

A weapon that a plane fires to hit a target on the ground

has identical meaning but uses a different technical label

Surface Forms

air-to-ground missile singular

air-to-ground missiles plural

Morphology

air-to-ground + missile

The meaning is directly and transparently built from the constituents: 'air' + 'to' + 'ground' describe the direction/target domain and 'missile' names the weapon, so it denotes a missile launched from the air to strike ground targets. This compound/phrase follows regular compositional patterns (common cross-linguistically) and a B1 learner who knows the component words would readily infer the intended meaning.

Etymology

Air-to-ground missile comes from a simple picture: a missile sent from the air down to the ground. Imagine a weapon leaving a plane and hitting a target below, so the name means 'launched from an aircraft' to 'strike targets on the ground'.