soft-land

American  

[sawf-land, soft-] / ˈsɔfˌlænd, ˈsɒft- /

verb (used with object)

1. to cause to land slowly and without jarring impact.

   to soft-land the module on the planet's surface.

---

verb (used without object)

1. to land slowly and without jarring impact.

   The craft will soft-land on the moon.

Other Word Forms

• soft-lander
  noun

Etymology

Origin of soft-land

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

It makes the Asian nation only the fifth country to soft-land on Earth's natural satellite, after the US, the Soviet Union, China and India.

From BBC • Jan. 19, 2024

"And congratulations to India on being the 4th country to successfully soft-land a spacecraft on the Moon," he said on X, formerly Twitter.

From Reuters • Aug. 23, 2023

It was launched on 22 February and was planned to soft-land on 10 April.

From The Guardian • Dec. 22, 2019

China also plans to become the first country to soft-land a probe on the far side of the moon.

From Washington Times • Mar. 29, 2018

"Let's say we soft-land it perfectly. How will Mark know it happened? And how will he know where to look?"

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir