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midcourse

American  
[mid-kawrs] / ˈmɪdˌkɔrs /

noun

  1. the middle of a course, course of events, or course of action.

    Congress has already had cause to complain of the court's changing its interpretative rules in midcourse.

  2. Rocketry. the portion of a ballistic trajectory between the end of powered flight and the beginning of the reentry phase.

  3. Aerospace. the portion of a space trajectory between leaving the earth's vicinity and arrival at the desired destination, as another planet.


adjective

  1. happening or done at some point during the journey of a ship, airplane, missile, or spacecraft.

    When the midcourse maneuver was attempted, one engine failed to ignite and caused the space vehicle to tumble.

  2. happening or done in the middle of a course, course of events, or course of action.

    The company is conducting a rigorous midcourse assessment of the process itself.

Etymology

Origin of midcourse

First recorded in 1555–65; mid- + course


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.

See Examples For:

“It’s not unusual for a campaign to have a midcourse adjustment and that’s what you’ll be seeing here with Rob’s departure and with readjustments that we’ll make in the campaign staff.”

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 28, 2023

The ministry said in a brief statement late on Sunday that the "ground-based midcourse anti-missile intercept technology" test had been carried out that night.

From Reuters ● Jun. 20, 2022

Indeed, an ICBM's trajectory has three different phases: boost phase, midcourse phase, and terminal phase, all of which typically occur in less than an hour from launch to strike.

From Salon ● Mar. 3, 2022

Italy’s Luna Rossa dropped out in April, angered with a midcourse downsize in the catamarans that will be used in 2017.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 23, 2015

Who would project a serial novel, after Thackeray and Dickens had each fallen in midcourse?

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 2 (of 25) by Robert Louis Stevenson

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