wild weasel

noun

An attack airplane specialized for attacking anti-aircraft defenses (AADs), typically surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites and radar control stations, typically with anti-radiation missiles (ARMs).

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Meanings

nounwild weasel (plural wild weasels)

plural wild weasels

  1. USaeronauticsAn attack airplane specialized for attacking anti-aircraft defenses (AADs), typically surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites and radar control stations, typically with anti-radiation missiles (ARMs).
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see wild, weasel.

Origin

Genericization of the codename Wild Weasel of the first aircraft tasked with the anti-SAM role in the USAF during the Vietnam War. From the dancing of weasels in the wild and their behavior of hunting snakes, contrasted with the maneuvering of the wild weasel aircraft and their hunting of SAMs.

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Cite this entry
APA

wild weasel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wild%20weasel

MLA

“wild weasel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wild%20weasel. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wild weasel,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wild%20weasel.

Source: wild weasel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.