ack-ackadj.n.
/akˈak/, U.S. /ˌækˈæk/ British colloquial.
A. adj.
Representing the letters a. a., short for anti-aircraft (see anti-aircraft adj.).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > piece of artillery > [adjective] > anti-aircraft
anti-aircraft1911
AA1914
ack-ack1916
1916 Daily Mirror 26 Aug. 10 The ‘Ack-Ack’ gun..is just an anti-aircraft gun, ‘Ack’ being the name for ‘A’.
1921 G. B. Stern China Shop iii. 263 I went down the line in a lorry, officially to examine some new Ack-ack sights for the Lewis gun.
1940 R. Walker Flight to Victory vii. 49 Engine failure due to ack-ack fire.
1944 ‘N. Drew’ Amateur Sailor ix. 267 Occasionally, for extra special shows, an ack-ack cruiser was in attendance.
1975 J. Rosenthal Evacuees in Bar Mitzvah Boy & Other Television Plays (1987) 143 Are you sure it's not just ack-ack shell?
1991 P. J. O'Rourke Parl. of Whores (1992) 161 You can buy a brand-new Moscow-issue AK-47 still in its shipping grease, an entire ack-ack gun, a shoulder-fired anti-tank missile.
2004 M. Oke Times of our Lives 149 Despite being endearingly called ‘Dad's Army’,..the Home Guard undertook dangerous work like bomb disposal and manning ack-ack guns.
B. n.
An anti-aircraft gun, regiment, etc.; (also) anti-aircraft gunfire.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > piece of artillery > [noun] > anti-aircraft gun
anti-aircraft gun1911
Archibald1914
Archie1915
ack-ack1917
Chicago piano1936
Oerlikon1944
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > management of artillery > [noun] > discharge of artillery > of specific type of artillery
rocketing?a1800
pom-pomming1901
ack-ack1917
flak1938
mortaring1964
1917 A. A. C. (Royal Anti-Aircraft Corps) Dec. (editorial) Is it not possible to get a stirring song written for the ‘Ack-Acks’?
1930 R. E. Sherwood Waterloo Bridge i. ii. 58 Gosh! You can see the flashes of the Ac-Acs.
1939 Collier's 2 Dec. 19/1 One unscheduled move and the machine would have been blown from the air by those long, lean guns the British call Aak Aaks, signalers' code for anti-aircraft.
1944 Amer. Speech 19 293 Some fliers who, in their conversation, were careful to distinguish between the enemy's flak and our ack-ack.
1995 K. Atkinson Behind Scenes at Museum (1996) iii. 103 Poor York, undefended by barrage balloons and ack-acks and the nearest fighter plane ninety minutes away.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.n.1916