hittile

H4I1T1T1I1L1E1

noun

An anti-aircraft or anti-satellite missile that is designed to hit its target, distinguished from a missile that is designed to explode near its target.

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Meanings

nounhittile (plural hittiles)

plural hittiles

  1. informalgovernmentAn anti-aircraft or anti-satellite missile that is designed to hit its target, distinguished from a missile that is designed to explode near its target.

    Rapier is a hittile and so has a simple blast warhead of under 1 kg weight.

    1998, R. Geoffrey Lee, Guided Weapons, page 222
    1 more example

    The U.S. anti-satellite programme is currently based on a three-stage non-exploding rocket or 'hittile' launched from an F-15 fighter.

    1983, Andrew Wilson, The Disarmer's Handbook of Military Technology and Organization, page 83

Origin

A play on missile with miss changed to hit.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

hittile. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hittile

MLA

“hittile.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hittile. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hittile,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hittile.

Source: hittile on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.