Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

ack-ack

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 2.57 in modern English

Syllables: ack--ack
IPA

18

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

3

Syllables

3

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Antiaircraft artillery.

Countable; Slang; Uncountable

noun

Antiaircraft fire.

Slang; Uncountable

Example Sentences

"The army fired upon us with ack-ack."
"Ack-acks were set up in the square."
"He had thought how down there on the ground, on enemy soil, there were probably hundreds of Ivys, nice Fräuleins with buck teeth and fiancés on U-boats, manning the German ack-ack, all united in an effort to kill him."
"The bomber flew through heavy ack-ack."

Etymology

From ack (“A”) + ack (“A”), RAF WWI signalese for AA (“anti-aircraft”). (In modern signalese it would be called alpha-alpha.)

Usage

Inflected Forms

ack-acks (plural)

Synonyms

AAA AA antiaircraft antiaircraft gun flak flack pom-pom ack-ack gun

Questions

What does ack-ack mean?: Antiaircraft artillery.
Where does ack-ack come from?: From ack (“A”) + ack (“A”), RAF WWI signalese for AA (“anti-aircraft”). (In modern signalese it would be called alpha-alpha.)

How to pronounce ack-ack

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “ack-ack”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
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