missile

1. Any object used as a weapon by being thrown or fired through the air, such as stone, arrow or bullet. [from 17th c.]Examples: "The Rhodians, who used leaden bullets, were able to project their missiles twice as far as the Persian slingers, who used large stones."; "And I saw askant the armies, / I saw as in noiseless dreams hundreds of battle-flags, / Borne through the smoke of the battles and pierc’d with missiles I saw them, / And carried hither and yon through the smoke, and torn and bloody, / And at last but a few shreds left on the staffs, (and all in silence,) / And the staffs all splinter’d and broken."; "Riot officers and police on horseback were deployed to disperse the crowns, but they came under attack from bottles, fireworks and other missiles."

2. (military) A self-propelled projectile whose trajectory can be adjusted after it is launched. [from 20th c.]Examples: "That missile is explosive enough to kill hundreds."