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Synonyms

spaceship

American  
[speys-ship] / ˈspeɪsˌʃɪp /

noun

  1. spacecraft.


spaceship British  
/ ˈspeɪsˌʃɪp /

noun

  1. a manned spacecraft

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of spaceship

First recorded in 1940–45; space + ship 1

Explanation

A vehicle that travels outside the earth's atmosphere is a spaceship. If you want to walk around on the moon some day, you'll have to get there in a spaceship. Any craft that carries people or equipment through space is a spaceship, though you could also call it a "rocket ship." Traveling through the universe, far from Earth or just outside its atmosphere, definitely requires a spaceship. Spaceship was originally borrowed from 19th- and 20th-century science fiction, and even today the term is considered less scientific than spacecraft or space vehicle.

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Vocabulary lists containing spaceship

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Spaceship Neptune is more of a balloon than a rocket.

From Seattle Times • May 11, 2024

To end on a more uplifting note, let’s go back to China, specifically to the indoor aquatic park Chimelong Spaceship in Zhuhai.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 20, 2024

After screenings, the festival hosted film parties; attendees could enter a waiting area known as The Spaceship and then step into a virtual film lounge.

From Washington Post • Feb. 4, 2022

Park My Spaceship is the simple, extremely amusing app I didn’t know I needed.

From The Verge • Dec. 25, 2021

His ideas also led to the founding of a Society for Spaceship Travel, whose members tried experimenting with small liquid-propelled rockets which were generally recovered by parachutes.

From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins