throw-weight

English

Alternative forms

• throw weight

Etymology

throw +‎ weight

Noun

throw-weight (countable and uncountable, plural throw-weights)

1. (military) A measure of the effective weight of ballistic missile payloads, given in kilograms or tonnes.
   • 2012, Caspar Henderson, The Book of Barely Imagined Beings, page 76:

     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. (military, nautical) A measure of the total weight of projectiles that can be delivered by a single broadside.