Throw-weight
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A measure of the effective weight of ballistic missile payloads, given in kilograms or tonnes. countable, uncountable
"The Soviet arsenal of deliverable nuclear weapons was significantly smaller than the American one in 1960, but grew fast. By 1964 it had reached about 1,000 megatonnes, or about 13 per cent greater than the US 'throw weight' in that year, but less than the Americans had had in 1964."
- 2 the weight of the payload of a missile (not including the weight of the rocket) wordnet
- 3 A measure of the total weight of projectiles that can be delivered by a single broadside. countable, uncountable
Example
More examples"The Soviet arsenal of deliverable nuclear weapons was significantly smaller than the American one in 1960, but grew fast. By 1964 it had reached about 1,000 megatonnes, or about 13 per cent greater than the US 'throw weight' in that year, but less than the Americans had had in 1964."
Etymology
From throw + weight.
More for "throw-weight"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.