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ramjet

American  
[ram-jet] / ˈræmˌdʒɛt /

noun

  1. a jet engine operated by the injection of fuel into a stream of air compressed by the forward speed of the aircraft.

ramjet British  
/ ˈræmˌdʒɛt /

noun

  1. Also called: athodyd. 

    1. a type of jet engine in which fuel is burned in a duct using air compressed by the forward speed of the aircraft

    2. an aircraft powered by such an engine

"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
ramjet Scientific  
/ răm′jĕt′ /

  1. A cylindrical jet propulsion engine consisting of air intake and combustion chambers into which burning fuel is injected, forcing hot air out of the rear of the engine at high pressures to provide forward thrust.

  2. See Note at turbojet

Etymology

Origin of ramjet

First recorded in 1940–45; ram 1 + jet 1

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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.

Reaching Mach 5 involves the use of a so-called ramjet, which is similar to a traditional jet engine but doesn’t have any moving parts.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2026

The missile was launched from a B-52 off the West Coast and was powered by a high-technology Aerojet Rocketdyne scramjet — a supersonic combustion ramjet used for ultra-high-speed flight.

From Washington Times • Apr. 6, 2022

HCMs use a supersonic combustion ramjet, or “scramjet,” to accelerate.

From Science Magazine • Jan. 8, 2020

There’s plenty of hypothetical innovation, too: ramjet fusion machines, antimatter engines and “laser porting” of human connectomes to enable bodiless exploration of the cosmos.

From Nature • Feb. 6, 2018

For the ramjet to work, it needs a frontal scoop hundreds of kilometers across.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

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.