antiaircraft fire
1
5.9
- noun
- /ˌæn.tiˈɛr.kræft ˈfaɪər/
- Specialized
:
fuego antiaéreo
- There still was considerable Kimakaze activity and plenty of antiaircraft fire from our ships.
- avoid antiaircraft fire
Examples
-
The sky lit up with an incredible amount of antiaircraft fire as the enemy planes approached.
-
American forces set up their defenses to counter the inevitable antiaircraft fire from enemy combatants.
-
Another plane made a suicide dive on the task group and was shot down by antiaircraft fire.
Fiction book (1993) -
Now we have heavy antiaircraft fire around Mugia Pass.
-
Why isn't there any antiaircraft fire?
-
Somewhere close by, the piece of glowing sky that he saw was marked by the bright lines of antiaircraft fire.
Fiction book (2001) -
The British Tornado aircraft suffered significant losses to antiaircraft fire in the early phases of the war as they delivered runway-cratering munitions from low altitudes.
Academic text (1991) -
This is a remarkably high rate of effectiveness, particularly considering that Stealth fighters typically flew at medium altitudes to avoid the antiaircraft fire prevalent around their highly defended targets.
Academic text (1991) -
March 1945: Japanese night raiders are greeted with a lacework of antiaircraft fire by the U.S. Marine defenders of Yontan airfield on Okinawa during World War II.
Blog text (11) -
During the battle, pilots had to maneuver carefully to avoid antiaircraft fire from below.
Synonyms
14
8.0
Explosive shells fired at planes that burst in the sky
7
5.6
Guns or missiles used to shoot down aircraft
1
9.9
Fire from big guns aimed at planes high in the sky
How Intense
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase is directly compositional: 'antiaircraft' describes weapons for engaging aircraft and 'fire' denotes the firing of guns, so 'antiaircraft fire' straightforwardly means gunfire aimed at aircraft. This adjective+noun pattern is transparent and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Antiaircraft fire gives a clear picture: anti means against, aircraft means planes, and fire means shooting. So it describes guns on the ground shooting at enemy planes, and that's why it means 'gunfire aimed at enemy aircraft'.