fairing

1 of 2

noun (1)

fair·​ing ˈfer-iŋ How to pronounce fairing (audio)
Synonyms of fairingnext
1
British
a
: a present bought or given at a fair
b
: gift
2

fairing

2 of 2

noun (2)

: a member or structure whose primary function is to produce a smooth outline and to reduce drag (as on an airplane)

Examples of fairing in a Sentence

Noun (1) business takes him to all corners of the globe, but he never fails to bring back fairings for the family back in London
Recent Examples on the Web
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Noun
This time, Isar has placed five small CubeSats and a non-separating technology experiment into the Spectrum rocket’s payload fairing. Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 15 June 2026 On Falcon 9 launches, the company recovers the booster and payload fairings but tosses the upper stage, which puts a floor under how cheap each launch can get. Chris Stokel-Walker, Scientific American, 12 June 2026 This photo shows Katalyst Space's LINK robotic servicing satellite awaiting encapsulation inside the fairing of Northrop Grumman's Pegasus XL rocket at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Brett Tingley, Space.com, 12 June 2026 The vertical launch horizontal landing spaceplane will be mated to a launch vehicle and will not be encapsulated in the launch vehicle fairings. Aditya Jadhav, Interesting Engineering, 18 May 2026 Everything, from the fairing to even the smallest components, is made from carbon. New Atlas, 4 Apr. 2026 The Vulcan and Atlas V use similar composite payload fairings, both made by Beyond Gravity, the space division of the Swiss company RUAG. Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica, 30 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (2)

fair entry 4

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1574, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun (2)

1914, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of fairing was in 1574

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Cite this Entry

“Fairing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fairing. Accessed 19 Jun. 2026.

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