attack submarine
2
5.5
- noun
- /əˈtæk ˈsʌbməˌriːn/
- Specialized
:
submarino de ataque
- To a remarkable degree, the U.S. military still has a Cold War force structure, built around fighter planes, aircraft-carrier task forces, attack submarines, and a large nuclear arsenal.
- nuclear attack submarine
- class attack submarine
- fast attack submarine
Examples
-
Another sign of President Obama's strong inclination to undertake military action beyond a no-fly zone came from the deployment on Monday, March 14, of the nuclear attack submarine USS Providence off the Libyan coast.
Blog text (15) -
Even more dangerous, U.S. forces hunting Chinese attack submarines could inadvertently sink a Chinese boomer instead.
Academic text (2018) -
These things also already exist in the form of the Alpha class attack submarines from the Soviet Union.
-
In wartime, when Chinese attack submarines might already have launched deadly strikes, the U.S. crew might decide to shoot first and ask questions later.
Academic text (2018) -
The flexibility and responsiveness of a nuclear power plant are dramatically demonstrated in a working nuclear-powered attack submarine.
Academic text (2009) -
China could use its conventionally armed attack submarines to blockade Taiwanese harbors, bomb the island, or attack U.S. and allied forces in the region.
Academic text (2018) -
The submarine's builder, BAE Systems, has described her as "the largest and most able attack submarine that the Royal Navy has operated, with a performance to rival any in the world"; however, independent analysts have serious doubts about that claim.
Blog text (23) -
It removed over 1,800 tactical nuclear weapons from ships, attack submarines, and land-based naval airplanes.
Academic text (1991) -
If the United States started sinking Chinese attack submarines, it would be sinking the very force that protects China's ballistic missile submarines, leaving the latter dramatically more vulnerable.
Academic text (2018) -
The US Navy deployed two new attack submarines designed to hunt down enemy vessels in the Pacific.
Synonyms
191
4.2
A warship that travels underwater and carries torpedoes
133
5.8
A ship that travels under water, often used by the navy
A military ship that can go underwater to attack or stay hidden
How Offensive
- Specialized
- Specialized
2
5.5
- Archaic
- Specialized
1
6.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a straightforward noun–noun compound where 'attack' specifies the submarine's purpose; a learner who knows 'attack' and 'submarine' can infer 'a submarine used for attacking or designed to attack'. The modifier+head pattern is compositionally regular in English (and cross-linguistically common), so the meaning is immediately accessible to a B1 learner.
Etymology
The compound noun attack submarine comes from the literal idea of a hidden ship that goes under the water to attack. The parts submarine (an underwater ship) and attack (to find and destroy) give the image of a quiet hunter beneath the sea, so it means 'a submarine made to find and destroy enemy ships'.