loran

American  

[lawr-an, lohr-] / ˈlɔr æn, ˈloʊr- /

Or Loran

noun

1. a system of long-range navigation whereby the latitude and longitude of a ship or airplane are determined from the time displacement between radio signals from two or more fixed transmitters.

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loran British  

/ ˈlɔːrən /

noun

1. a radio navigation system operating over long distances. Synchronized pulses are transmitted from widely spaced radio stations to aircraft or shipping, the time of arrival of the pulses being used to determine position

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loran Scientific  

/ lôr′ăn′ /

1. A long-range navigational system, in which a receiver's position is determined by an analysis involving the time intervals between pulsed radio signals from two or more pairs of ground stations of known position. The difference in the timing of the received signals corresponds to differences in distance from the transmitters, and the position of the receiver can be calculated by triangulation.

2. Compare Global Positioning System

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Etymology

Origin of loran

1940–45, lo(ng) ra(nge) n(avigation)

Example Sentences

Last week loran seemed destined for obsolescence, as an experimental Navy satellite called Transit I-B blasted into space from Florida's Cape Canaveral.

From Time Magazine Archive

Description of a new device called "loran" is still off-the-record.

From Time Magazine Archive

The pulse from the master station appears as a "pip" on the "scope" of the plane's loran receiver.

From Time Magazine Archive

The same storm disrupted shortwave radio transmissions, crippled Coast Guard loran navigation systems and had automatic garage doors opening on their own.

From Time Magazine Archive

About steering-rocket fuel and the launching cage release and the take-off rockets and the reduction valve from the air tanks—he'd thought of that on the way over—and the short wave and loran and radar.

From Space Tug by Leinster, Murray