moonshot

or moon shot

[ moon-shot ]

/ ˈmunˌʃɒt /

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noun

the act or procedure of launching a rocket or spacecraft to the moon.

a very challenging and innovative project or undertaking: Technology companies are investing in moonshots that address the world’s greatest problems.

Baseball. a high-velocity home run in which the ball reaches an extraordinary height: What could be more exciting than a bases-clearing moonshot over the right field wall in the bottom of the eleventh inning?

adjective

relating to or noting a very challenging and innovative project or undertaking: His department takes moonshot ideas and brings them to reality.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of moonshot

An Americanism dating back to 1945–50 for def. 1; moon + shot¹; the baseball sense, also capitalized as Moon shot, was named after Wallace Wade “Wally” Moon (1930–2018), U.S. baseball player, whose home run helped the Dodgers win the 1959 pennant

Words nearby moonshot

moonset, moonshee, moon shell, moonshine, moonshiner, moonshot, moonstone, moonstruck, moonwalk, moonward, moonwort

How to use moonshot in a sentence

They were frenemies, building competing app stores, devices, services and moonshot projects.
With Bezos out as Amazon CEO, Zuckerberg is the last man standing|Elizabeth Dwoskin|February 3, 2021|Washington Post
The firm said on Thursday evening that it was winding down Loon, a nine-year-old project and a two-and-a-half-year-old spin-off firm, after failing to find a sustainable business model and partners for one of its most prominent moonshot projects.
Alphabet shuts down Loon internet balloon company|Manish Singh|January 22, 2021|TechCrunch
While Project Brooklyn is the biggest moonshot in Razer’s offerings, the company also built a reusable mask called Project Hazel.
Razer’s concept gaming chair wraps players in a huge, curved screen|Stan Horaczek|January 12, 2021|Popular-Science
Nearly 250 SPACs were formed in 2020, breaking past the historical record by a moonshot.
SoFi will go public via SPAC|Lucinda Shen|January 8, 2021|Fortune

It seemed such a strange thing for an Internet company to spend its time and energy on, a “moonshot” as the company’s engineers called such massive efforts.
The Self-Driving Car Is a Red Herring - Issue 92: Frontiers|Anthony Townsend|October 21, 2020|Nautilus
Her moonshot, she said, is “being on every smartphone, every tablet, and every PC for every Internet user.”
Marissa Mayer Ignores Haters, Tells Wired Conference: ‘I Don’t Click’|Nina Strochlic|May 7, 2013|DAILY BEAST

British Dictionary definitions for moonshot

moonshot

/ (ˈmuːnˌʃɒt) /

noun

the launching of a spacecraft, rocket, etc, to the moon

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