Mirv
noun, verb, slang ·1 syllable ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Initialism of multiple independently-targettable reentry vehicle; the independently targettable reentry capsule for a ballistic missile's payload, typically a nuclear weapon, where the missile has multiple instances of such. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
"Picking up where we had left off at Vladivostok, we discussed verification of underground nuclear tests that each side could conduct, and also the rules for counting MIRVs — how to tell whether a missile had a single or a multiple warhead. There the Soviets granted a concession. If they placed a MIRV in a certain location, then we had the right to assume that every missile in that field had a MIRV capability."
- 1 To attack with MIRV missiles. slang, transitive
Example
More examples"Picking up where we had left off at Vladivostok, we discussed verification of underground nuclear tests that each side could conduct, and also the rules for counting MIRVs — how to tell whether a missile had a single or a multiple warhead. There the Soviets granted a concession. If they placed a MIRV in a certain location, then we had the right to assume that every missile in that field had a MIRV capability."
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.