spaceship

American  

[speys-ship] / ˈspeɪsˌʃɪp /

noun

1. spacecraft.

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spaceship British  

/ ˈspeɪsˌʃɪp /

noun

1. a manned spacecraft

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Etymology

Origin of spaceship

First recorded in 1940–45; space + ship ¹

Explanation

A vehicle that travels outside the earth's atmosphere is a spaceship. If you want to walk around on the moon some day, you'll have to get there in a spaceship. Any craft that carries people or equipment through space is a spaceship, though you could also call it a "rocket ship." Traveling through the universe, far from Earth or just outside its atmosphere, definitely requires a spaceship. Spaceship was originally borrowed from 19th- and 20th-century science fiction, and even today the term is considered less scientific than spacecraft or space vehicle.

Example Sentences

He reports a sighting of an unidentified object to Nasa mission control, describing a "bogey" and "trillions of little particles" seen to the left of the spaceship.

From BBC • May 8, 2026

The night sky, the bands' spaceship, all of it was graphics.

From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026

Ryan Gosling stars in the film as a teacher-turned-astronaut who awakes on a spaceship with a mission to save Earth from a sun-dimming phenomenon.

From Barron's • Mar. 22, 2026

Here, guests will first build their own spaceship, and then have it scanned into the game for a cooperative shoot-’em-up.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2026

But the idea that he thought I’d be able to do those math classes, maybe work on a spaceship someday, well, that made me feel awful good.

From "The Lions of Little Rock" by Kristin Levine

Related Words

• booster
• firework
• intercontinental ballistic missile
• missile
• spacecraft
• torpedo
• weapon