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British
: desert entry 4 sense 1
: 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
Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 12 Dec. 2025
SpaceX, too, has implemented its own recovery and refurbishment plans for Falcon 9 fairings, but the two halves of the shell protecting the rocket's payload on its way to orbit are still designed to split apart and fall back to Earth independently of each other, and of Falcon 9's first stage.
—Josh Dinner, Space.com, 10 Dec. 2025
Future New Glenn flights will also feature a reusable payload fairing that can be recovered after being jettisoned in the upper atmosphere, a cost-saving step that SpaceX adopted years ago for Falcon 9 launches.
—PC Magazine, 21 Nov. 2025
The upper stage vehicle carrying the payload fairing will continue in space, helping to send NASA's twin ESCAPADE satellites to Mars.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 12 Nov. 2025
The Sport Pack includes a quickshifter, engine guard, radiator grille protection, and a bikini fairing, along with other cosmetic upgrades.
—New Atlas, 19 Oct. 2025
Boeing’s uncrewed spacecraft fits in normal rocket fairings, or nosecones, and has flown five times on United Launch Alliance Atlas V rockets, once on SpaceX Falcon 9 and once on Falcon Heavy.
—Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 21 Aug. 2025
The Space Force has only acknowledged one of the satellites aboard the USSF-106 mission, but there are more payloads cocooned inside the Vulcan rocket's fairing.
—Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 12 Aug. 2025
The prototype that Sarcos demonstrated had all of the functionality of the version that will ship in January, but latter models will include plastic fairings over the suit as well as quick-change end-effectors.
—IEEE Spectrum, 10 Dec. 2019
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Noun
Compared to traditional rocket fairings, which are jettisoned during ascent and either discarded or recovered separately, the new fairing remains attached to the launch vehicle throughout the entire mission – the launch, payload deployment and return to Earth.
—Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 12 Dec. 2025
SpaceX, too, has implemented its own recovery and refurbishment plans for Falcon 9 fairings, but the two halves of the shell protecting the rocket's payload on its way to orbit are still designed to split apart and fall back to Earth independently of each other, and of Falcon 9's first stage.
—Josh Dinner, Space.com, 10 Dec. 2025
Future New Glenn flights will also feature a reusable payload fairing that can be recovered after being jettisoned in the upper atmosphere, a cost-saving step that SpaceX adopted years ago for Falcon 9 launches.
—PC Magazine, 21 Nov. 2025
The upper stage vehicle carrying the payload fairing will continue in space, helping to send NASA's twin ESCAPADE satellites to Mars.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 12 Nov. 2025
The Sport Pack includes a quickshifter, engine guard, radiator grille protection, and a bikini fairing, along with other cosmetic upgrades.
—New Atlas, 19 Oct. 2025
Boeing’s uncrewed spacecraft fits in normal rocket fairings, or nosecones, and has flown five times on United Launch Alliance Atlas V rockets, once on SpaceX Falcon 9 and once on Falcon Heavy.
—Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 21 Aug. 2025
The Space Force has only acknowledged one of the satellites aboard the USSF-106 mission, but there are more payloads cocooned inside the Vulcan rocket's fairing.
—Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 12 Aug. 2025
The prototype that Sarcos demonstrated had all of the functionality of the version that will ship in January, but latter models will include plastic fairings over the suit as well as quick-change end-effectors.
—IEEE Spectrum, 10 Dec. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Fairing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fairing. Accessed 20 Dec. 2025.
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