armour-piercing

A soldier loads an armour-piercing shell into a tank's cannon.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Capable of penetrating armour: "armour-piercing" describes a projectile or weapon designed to penetrate protective metal plating, especially on military vehicles or fortifications.

Usage Examples

• (A projectile designed to penetrate tank armour.)
• (Bullets engineered to pierce protective vests or vehicle plating.)

Advanced Usage

• "armour-piercing round": a specific type of ammunition built to defeat armoured targets.

  • The sniper used armour-piercing rounds to disable the enemy vehicle. (Specialized bullets that can punch through metal.)

• "armour-piercing capability": the ability of a weapon system to defeat armour.

  • This missile has enhanced armour-piercing capability against modern tanks. (The missile can penetrate advanced armour.)

Variants and Related Words

• Armour-piercing incendiary (adj/n): a type of ammunition that combines penetration with a fire-starting element.

  • The aircraft carried armour-piercing incendiary rounds for attacking fuel depots. (Ammunition that both pierces armour and ignites on impact.)

• Armour-piercing discarding sabot (n): a type of projectile that uses a lightweight carrier (sabot) to achieve high velocity for improved penetration.

  • The tank fired an armour-piercing discarding sabot round. (A high-velocity projectile that sheds its outer casing after firing.)

Synonyms

• Piercing: penetrating through a surface.
• Perforating: making a hole through something.

Related Idioms

• (No common idioms directly use "armour-piercing"; it is primarily a technical term.)