orbiteer

[awr-bi-teer]

verb (used with object)

1. to climb (a mountain) in a circular fashion as opposed to scaling.

verb (used without object)

1. to climb a mountain in this way.

Other Word Forms

• orbiteering noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of orbiteer¹

First recorded in 1985–90; orbit ( def. ) (in the sense “move in an orbital or elliptical path”) + -eer ( def. ); possibly coined by Edward “Ned” Gillette (1945-98), U.S. mountaineer, skier, and author

Example Sentences

Orders for the Orbiteer have already run over 775,000.

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Knox's brainchild, the Orbiteer, is to the Frisbie* what the Fairlane is to the model T. An 18-in. soft-plastic disk of six blades extending from the hub, with a handle shaped like the ionizer of a space station, it is thrown into the wind on an axis perpendicular to the ground.

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Inventor Knox, 35, a designer of medical instruments, owns the Orbiteer outright through the Knox Instrument Co., of which he is president.

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