rocket

1 of 3

noun (1)

rock·​et ˈrä-kət 

rä-ˈket

: any of several plants of the mustard family: such as

a

: arugula

b

: dame's rocket

rocket

2 of 3

noun (2)

rock·​et ˈrä-kət 

often attributive

1

a

: a firework consisting of a case partly filled with a combustible composition fastened to a guiding stick and propelled through the air by the rearward discharge of the gases liberated by combustion

b

: a similar device used as an incendiary weapon or as a propelling unit (as for a lifesaving line)

2

: a jet engine that operates on the same principle as the firework rocket, consists essentially of a combustion chamber and an exhaust nozzle, carries either liquid or solid propellants which provide the fuel and oxygen needed for combustion and thus make the engine independent of the oxygen of the air, and is used especially for the propulsion of a missile (such as a bomb or shell) or a vehicle (such as an airplane)

3

: a rocket-propelled bomb, missile, projectile, or vehicle

rocket

3 of 3

verb

rocketed; rocketing; rockets

transitive verb

: to convey or propel by means of or as if by a rocket

intransitive verb

1

: to rise up swiftly, spectacularly, and with force

rocketed to the top of the list

2

: to travel rapidly in or as if in a rocket

Synonyms

Verb

• barrel
• belt
• blast
• blaze
• blow
• bolt
• bomb [slang]
• bowl
• breeze
• bundle
• bustle
• buzz
• cannonball
• careen
• career
• chase
• course
• crack (on)
• dash
• drive
• fly
• hare
• hasten
• hie
• highball
• hotfoot (it)
• hump
• hurl
• hurry
• hurtle
• hustle
• jet
• jump
• motor
• nip
• pelt
• race
• ram
• rip
• run
• rush
• rustle
• scoot
• scurry
• scuttle
• shoot
• speed
• step
• tear
• travel
• trot
• whirl
• whisk
• zip
• zoom

Examples of rocket in a Sentence

Verb

Sales rocketed from 1,000 units last week to 5,000 units this week.

The train rocketed through the tunnel.

The spacecraft rocketed into outer space.

Her novel rocketed to the top of the best-seller list.

Their album rocketed up the charts.

His role in the movie rocketed him to fame.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The Transcarpathian region in the west, for example is shielded by the Carpathian Mountains, and there's hardly any Russian rockets, and hardly any Russian drones. —Sophie Carson, Journal Sentinel, 20 May 2024

The rocket reached more than 347,000 feet, crossing the 330,000 foot high Kármán line, the imaginary line that denotes the boundary of space. —Scott Neuman, NPR, 19 May 2024

Boeing's Starliner crew capsule atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket's Centaur second stage at launch complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station earlier this month. —William Harwood, CBS News, 17 May 2024

Israel shut down the second major crossing, at Kerem Shalom, after a Hamas rocket attack nearby killed four Israeli soldiers last week. —Raja Abdulrahim, New York Times, 17 May 2024

The New Shepard rocket, which flies cargo and humans on short trips to the edge of space, has been grounded since a September 2022 uncrewed mission failed roughly a minute after liftoff from Texas, forcing the rocket's capsule full of NASA experiments to safely eject mid-flight. —USA TODAY, 15 May 2024

The ringing in his ears from the 113.4 mph rocket must have unsettled Winn. —Bill Plunkett, Orange County Register, 15 May 2024

California SpaceX is launching more rockets from a military base. —Salvador Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2024

Just last night there was more rockets and shells coming into the north of Israel. —ABC News, 12 May 2024

Verb

Thanks to all that might, the car can rocket from zero to 60 mph in just 3.6 seconds and hit a top speed of 203 mph. —Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 6 May 2024

Video of the incident was jarring and rocketed through social media. —Raisa Habersham, Miami Herald, 2 May 2024

Thanks to this setup, the car can rocket from zero to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds on its way to a top speed of 253 mph. —Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 26 Apr. 2024

In March, after their own IPOs, the social media company Reddit saw its shares gain 48% and those of chip firm Astera Labs rocketed 72%. —María Soledad Davila Calero, Fortune, 25 Apr. 2024

As dystopian, ground-pounding carnage dominates the trailer, Lopez rockets off to a far-off planet to capture a renegade robot and teams up with a computer program named Smith in what appears, at times, like buddy comedy. —Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Apr. 2024

Stocks are no longer rocketing straight to the heavens. —Jeff Sommer, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2024

The stock had rocketed higher in recent months in anticipation of merging a blank-check acquisition company with Trump’s media business. —Krystal Hur, CNN, 15 Apr. 2024

In California, that rockets up to at least a 10-1 ratio, per Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. —Terry Castleman, Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

borrowed from Middle French roquete, borrowed from Italian (15th-century) ruchetta, rochetta, from ruca "arugula" (going back to Latin ērūca "arugula, caterpillar," of uncertain origin) + -etta, diminutive suffix, going back to Latin -itta

Note: The sense "caterpillar" of Latin ērūca has been taken as the original one, with the plant so called from the resemblance of its hairy stems to a caterpillar. If this is the case, ērūca could be a derivative of *ēr "hedgehog" (see urchin); the suffix may be the same as in festūca "stalk, straw," lactūca "lettuce," and verrūca "wart."

Noun (2)

Italian rocchetta, literally, small distaff, from diminutive of rocca distaff, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German rocko distaff

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1530, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1611, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1837, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Phrases Containing rocket

• bottle rocket
• dame's rocket
• garden rocket
• retro-rocket
• rocket plane
• rocket science
• rocket scientist
• rocket ship
• rocket sled
• sounding rocket
• wall rocket

Kids Definition

rocket

1 of 2 noun

rock·​et ˈräk-ət 

1

: a firework that is driven through the air by the gases produced by a burning substance

2

: a jet engine that operates like a firework rocket but carries its own oxygen for burning the fuel and is therefore able to run without the oxygen of the air

3

: an object (as a missile) that is driven by a rocket

rocket

2 of 2 verb

1

: to transport by a rocket

rocket a satellite into orbit

2

: to rise swiftly

a singer who rocketed to stardom

3

: to travel rapidly in or as if in a rocket

Etymology

Noun

from Italian rocchetta, literally "a small stick or rod on which wool is held for spinning," from rocca "distaff"; probably so called because of its shape