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antitank

antitank

3 5.4
To stop tanks and other armored vehicles
  • adjective
  • /ˈæntiˌtæŋk/
  • Specialized
: antitanque
  • During the conflict, both sides relied on antitank systems to protect their armored divisions from enemy assaults.
  • antitank weapons

Examples

  • It'd take an antitank missile to put a dent in that damn thing.

  • They are essentially antitank weapons but can be used for other purposes as well.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Other antitank weapons, of which NATO has tens of thousands, can destroy infantry combat vehicles.

    Academic text (1991)
  • The type of functional training is service-specific and relates to the specific core of the member; for example, infantry officers attend mortar and antitank training.

    Academic text (2001)
  • No open place in the eastern 50 km of former West Germany is beyond the range of antitank weapons from some place of concealment: woods, brush, culverts, embankments, buildings.

    Academic text (1991)
  • They rely heavily on surface-to-air missiles and antitank weapons to thwart the inevitable air and armor counterattacks.

    Academic text (1999)
  • The object of the Armenian attack was a Soviet Army depot, which they ransacked, removing small arms, assault rifles, mines, a tank, a personnel carrier, mortars, and antitank guns.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • The chart gives the Warsaw Pact double NATO's total of tanks and divisions and shows the pact holding a threefold or better advantage in artillery, antitank weapons, and surface-to-air missiles and launchers.

    Academic text (1990)
  • The soldiers were equipped with advanced antitank weapons designed to counter armored vehicles on the battlefield.

  • To defend the base effectively, the army installed new antitank measures along the perimeter.

Surface Forms

antitank positive

Morphology

antitank = tank (transparent) = anti + tank

The word is a straightforward prefixation of 'anti-' plus 'tank', directly meaning against tanks.

Etymology

The word antitank starts with anti- meaning 'against' and ends with tank, the modern word for a heavy armored vehicle. So antitank describes weapons or measures made to stop or destroy tanks.