artillery
Big military guns
Artillery refers to large-caliber military weapons—cannons, howitzers, missile launchers—too heavy to carry and typically operated by crews.
The term also designates the branch of an army that operates such weapons: He served in the artillery.
Figuratively, artillery can mean any heavy firepower or powerful resources brought to bear: They brought out the legal artillery.
Large mounted gun
- mortarGrinding bowl or binder
- field gunPortable military cannon
- culverinHistorical long-range cannon
- falconetSmall bird of prey
bombard · siege gun · anti-aircraft gun · anti-tank gun · naval gun · breechloader · muzzleloader · flak gun
Sustained, overwhelming attack
- salvoSimultaneous weapons discharge
- volleySimultaneous firing burst
- cannonadeSustained artillery fire
- fusilladeRapid series of shots
bombardment · shelling · broadside · counter-battery · suppression · ranging · elevation · azimuth
Repeated forceful striking
- breachBreaking of agreement
- catapultSiege engine for launching
- trebuchetCounterweight-powered projectile launcher
- ballistaAncient projectile siege engine
ram · sappers · escalade · fortifications · rampart · bastion · redoubt · casemate
Protective outer layers
- projectilesObjects forcefully launched
- cannonballsSpherical artillery projectiles
- grapeshotClustered artillery projectiles
- shrapnelScattered explosion fragments
rounds · cartridges · charges · propellant · fuses · primers · armor-piercing · high-explosive
cannon
Large mounted gun
falconet · bombard · siege gun · anti-aircraft gun · anti-tank gun · naval gun · breechloader · muzzleloader · flak gun · battery
barrage
Sustained, overwhelming attack
fusillade · bombardment · shelling · broadside · counter-battery · suppression · ranging · elevation · azimuth · recoil
battering
Repeated forceful striking
- breachBreaking of agreement
- catapultSiege engine for launching
- trebuchetCounterweight-powered projectile launcher
ballista · ram · sappers · escalade · fortifications · rampart · bastion · redoubt · casemate · embrasure
shells
Protective outer layers
- projectilesObjects forcefully launched
- cannonballsSpherical artillery projectiles
- grapeshotClustered artillery projectiles
shrapnel · rounds · cartridges · charges · propellant · fuses · primers · armor-piercing · high-explosive · airburst
- armyinfantry, cavalry, soldiers, officers, colonels
- historical warfaremusket, bayonet, cannon, flintlock, cavalry
- military historybattles, soldiers, campaigns, officers, battlefields
- coastal defensesseawall, seawalls, sea wall, sea walls, breakwater
- military termsarmy, navy, air force, marines, soldier
- warfarebattle, combat, attack, war, armed conflict
artilleryinfantry
Ground combat troops
foot soldiers · cavalry · ground troops · hand-to-hand combat · close-quarters combat
artillerydisarmament
Reducing or eliminating weapons
demilitarization · disarm · pacification · unarmed · arms reduction
- field artilleryMobile military cannons
- heavy artilleryLarge military ordnance
- artillery fireProjectiles from heavy weapons
- artillery barrageConcentrated heavy weapons fire
- artillery shellsLarge-caliber explosive projectiles
- artillery strikeAttack using heavy guns
artilleryman, artillerymen, artillerist, artillerists, field artillery, heavy artillery