tailfirst
Americanadverb
Etymology
Origin of tailfirst
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.
It was the first time a spacecraft had ever come back to earth tailfirst, although similar landings have been made on Mars and the moon.
From Time Magazine Archive
With their swept-back wings, forward-mounted canards, or stabilizers, and pusher propellers, they look a little as if they should be moving through the air tailfirst.
From Time Magazine Archive
Behind him, Vidac and Governor Hardy watched the surface of Roald as the Polaris began to turn for her tailfirst landing.
From The Space Pioneers by Glanzman, Louis
It made a slow-climbing arc over the spaceport and then settled slowly, tailfirst.
From The Revolt on Venus by Glanzman, Louis
Connel quickly cut back the nose braking rockets and again opened the main drive rockets as the ship plummeted tailfirst toward the surface of Mars.
From Sabotage in Space by Glanzman, Louis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
