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kamikaze

Pronunciation: /ˌkamɪˈkɑːzi/
Definition of kamikaze

noun

  • (in the Second World War) a Japanese aircraft loaded with explosives and making a deliberate suicidal crash on an enemy target.
  • the pilot of a kamikaze aircraft.

adjective

[attributive]
  • relating to or denoting a kamikaze attack or pilot: a kamikaze attack
  • reckless or potentially self-destructive:he made a kamikaze run across three lanes of traffic

Origin:

Japanese, from kami 'divinity' + kaze 'wind', originally referring to the gale that, in Japanese tradition, destroyed the fleet of invading Mongols in 1281

kamikaze in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of kamikaze in the US English dictionary
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