minuteman

UK: /ˈmɪnɪtˌmæn/ US: (min′it man′)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

Min•ute•man  (min′it man′), n., pl. -men. 

1. American History (sometimes l.c.) a member of a group of American militiamen just before and during the Revolutionary War who held themselves in readiness for instant military service.
2. a U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile with three stages, powered by solid-propellant rocket engines.
3. World History a member of a small, secret, ultraconservative organization formed into armed groups for the declared purpose of conducting guerrilla warfare against a communist invasion of the U.S.

• minute¹ + man¹ 1765–75, American.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Minuteman / ˈmɪnɪtˌmæn/ noun ( -men)

1. (sometimes not capital) (in the War of American Independence) a colonial militiaman who promised to be ready to fight at one minute's notice
2. a US three-stage intercontinental ballistic missile