Colloquial Variant guide

ack-ack

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Antiaircraft artillery.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, slang, uncountable

Topics: government, military, politics, war

Examples

  • The army fired upon us with ack-ack.
  • Ack-acks were set up in the square.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Antiaircraft fire.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: slang, uncountable

Topics: government, military, politics, war

Examples

  • The bomber flew through heavy ack-ack.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

artillery designed to shoot upward at airplanes

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: antiaircraft, antiaircraft gun, flak, flack, pom-pom, ack-ack gun

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: gun

Narrower terms: Bofors gun

History

Etymology

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