tank destroyer
1
8.1
- noun
- /tæŋk dɪˈstrɔɪər/
- Archaic
:
cazatanques
- The general inspected the new tank destroyers before the upcoming battle.
Examples
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Well somebody told you wrong, M18 isn't a tank, it's a tank destroyer, I was a Hellcat commander for two years.
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We've got two tank destroyers.
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70,000 M-20 tank destroyers... with 76-mm cannon.
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The military deployed several tank destroyers to combat the enemy's armored units.
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Each tank destroyer in the fleet is equipped with advanced targeting systems.
Synonyms
22
3.4
A vehicle with heavy metal protection that keeps people safe from attack, like a tank or police van
An armored vehicle with a large gun on a tank body that supports soldiers and fights tanks
A heavy military machine like a tank with heavy metal plates, tracks, and a large gun for fighting
How Armored
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is literally built from 'tank' (armored vehicle) + 'destroyer' (one that destroys), so its meaning 'a vehicle designed to destroy tanks' is directly inferable from the constituents. This noun+agent composition is a transparent, cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the parts would readily understand the MWE.
Etymology
Tank destroyer comes from the simple, literal idea of a vehicle that destroys tanks, literally tank + destroyer. In the 20th century armies built light, fast vehicles with very large guns to hunt enemy tanks, so today it means 'a vehicle made to destroy tanks'.