rocket1
- any of various simple or complex tubelike devices containing combustibles that on being ignited liberate gases whose action propels the tube through the air: used for pyrotechnic effect, signaling, carrying a lifeline, hurling explosives at an enemy, putting a space vehicle into orbit, etc.
- a space capsule or vehicle put into orbit by such devices.
- rocket engine.
- to move or transport by means of a rocket.
- to attack with rockets.
- to move like a rocket.
- (of game birds) to fly straight up rapidly when flushed.
Origin of rocket1
rocket2
- any of various plants belonging to the genus Hesperis, of the mustard family, and related genera.Compare dame's rocket.
- Also called rocket salad, roquette. the arugula plant, used in salads.
- a noxious weed, Barbarea vulgaris, of the U.S., having lobed leaves and clusters of small, yellow flowers.
Origin of rocket2
Richard1
- Mau·rice [maw-rees; French moh-rees] /mɔˈris; French moʊˈris/, Rocket, 1921–2000, Canadian hockey player.
Related Words
weaponmissilespacecraftboosterfireworktorpedospaceshipsailescalateriseascendzoomliftskyrocketclimbgrowsoarICBMtowerExamples from the Web for rocket
Contemporary Examples
The questions going through my mind are: How on earth are there Kalashnikovs and rocket launchers in the heart of Paris?
These people that work for the BOP are not rocket scientists.
How a ‘Real Housewife’ Survives Prison: ‘I Don’t See [Teresa Giudice] Having a Cakewalk Here’Michael Howard
January 6, 2015
Her brothers formed a group to rescue people after a rocket attack.
It is adopting technology—in rocket propulsion, composite construction, and aerodynamic refinements—already in use elsewhere.
That would require the rocket to run for 55 to 60 seconds without a glitch.
Historical Examples
Think of our world as it looks from the rocket that is heading toward Mars.
Suppose we could put a rocket on the Moon and bring it back?
The Big TomorrowPaul Lohrman
That must be it—I was piloting a rocket and cracked up somewhere on Mars.
FlamedownHorace Brown Fyfe
And he must take her in, now that he had lost his own rocket!
Salvage in SpaceJohn Stewart Williamson
It had, then, last been used to enter the rocket, not to leave it.
Salvage in SpaceJohn Stewart Williamson
rocket1
- a self-propelling device, esp a cylinder containing a mixture of solid explosives, used as a firework, distress signal, line carrier, etc
- any vehicle propelled by a rocket engine, esp one used to carry a warhead, spacecraft, etc
- (as modifier)rocket propulsion; rocket launcher
- British and NZ informal a severe reprimand (esp in the phrase get a rocket)
- (tr) to propel (a missile, spacecraft, etc) by means of a rocket
- (intr ; foll by off, away , etc) to move off at high speed
- (intr) to rise rapidlyhe rocketed to the top
Word Origin
rocket2
- Also called: arugula a Mediterranean plant, Eruca sativa, having yellowish-white flowers and leaves used as a salad: family Brassicaceae (crucifers)
- any of several plants of the related genus Sisymbrium, esp S. irio (London rocket), which grow on waste ground and have pale yellow flowers
- yellow rocket any of several yellow-flowered plants of the related genus Barbarea, esp B. vulgaris
- sea rocket any of several plants of the related genus Cakile, esp C. maritima, which grow along the seashores of Europe and North America and have mauve, pink, or white flowers
- dame's rocket another name for dame's violet
Word Origin
Richard
- Sir Cliff, real name Harry Rodger Webb . born 1940, British pop singer. Film musicals include The Young Ones (1961) and Summer Holiday (1962)
- Maurice, known as Rocket . (1921–2000); Canadian ice hockey player
Word Origin and History for rocket
n.1
garden plant of the cabbage family, c.1500, from Middle French roquette (16c.), from Italian rochetta, diminutive of ruca "a kind of cabbage," from Latin eruca "colewort," perhaps so called for its downy stems and related to ericus "hedgehog," also "a beam set with spikes," from PIE *ghers- "to bristle" (see horror).
n.2
type of self-propelling projectile, 1610s, from Italian rocchetto "a rocket," literally "a bobbin," diminutive of rocca "a distaff," so called because of cylindrical shape. The Italian word probably is from a Germanic source (cf. Old High German rocko "distaff," Old Norse rokkr), from Proto-Germanic *rukkon-, from PIE root *rug- "fabric, spun yarn."
Originally "fireworks rocket," meaning "device propelled by a rocket engine" first recorded 1919; rocket-ship in the modern sense first attested February 1927 ("Popular Science"); earlier as a type of naval warship firing projectiles. Rocket science in the figurative sense of "difficult, complex process or topic" is attested by 1985. Rocket scientist is from 1952.
That such a feat is considered within the range of possibility is evidenced by the activities of scientists in Europe as well as in America. Two of them, Prof. Herman Oberth and Dr. Franz Hoeff, of Vienna, are constructing a five-ton rocket ship in which they hope to reach the moon in two days. ["Popular Science," Feb. 1927]
v.
"to spring like a rocket," 1860, from rocket (n.2). Earlier "to attack with rockets" (1799). Related: Rocketed; rocketing.
Richard
masc. proper name, Middle English Rycharde, from Old French Richard, from Old High German Ricohard "strong in rule," from Proto-Germanic *rik- "ruler" (see rich) + *harthu "hard," from PIE *kar-o- (see hard). "One of the most popular names introduced by the Normans. Usually Latinized as Ricardus, the common form was Ricard, whence the pet form Rick, etc." ["Dictionary of English Surnames"]
rocket
- A vehicle or device propelled by one or more rocket engines, especially such a vehicle designed to travel through space.