English

Proper noun

IBM

1. International Business Machines.
2. International Brotherhood of Magicians.

Translations

Noun

IBM ‎(plural IBMs)

1. Intercontinental ballistic missile.
   • 1956, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (volume 12, number 6, June 1956, page 186)

     They see this last possibility in an international agreement to stop further atomic and thermonuclear bomb tests and halt the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles (IBMs).

   • 1987, Kenneth David Nichols, The Road to Trinity (page 294)

     Today we need a defense against IBM attack. When as chief of R&D I urged Army Ordnance to develop an antimissile missile, I heard repeatedly that you can't hit a bullet with a bullet, so it is impossible to develop such a missile.

   • 1990, William Elliott Butler, Perestroika and International Law (page 155)

     Thus, they limit to a strictly defined number the quantity of armed IBMs in the USSR and the United States, as well as ballistic missiles of submarines.

2. (figuratively) A company that dominates its field.
   • 1968, George Washington University, Computers-in-Law Institute, National Law Center, The Law of Software: 1968 Proceedings:

     Univac was the IBM of the computer industry's incipiency; in 1952 Univac had virtually 100% of the market.

   • 1982, Tracy Kidder, The Soul Of A New Machine (ISBN 0380599317), page 238:

     First, to Sperry Univac, the descendent of the first real computer company, which might have become the IBM of the industry had it not blown its early lead;

   • 1990, Alfred Balk, The Myth of American Eclipse: The New Global Age (ISBN 0887383696), page 81:

     The US lead was mainly due to one firm, the IBM of its small, specialized field: Cray Research Inc.

Derived terms

• IBMer

Anagrams

• bim, BMI, MiB