drogue

noun \ ˈdrōg \

Definition of drogue

1 : sea anchor

2 a : a cylindrical or funnel-shaped device towed as a target by an airplane

b : a small parachute for stabilizing or decelerating something (such as an astronaut's capsule) or for pulling a larger parachute out of stowage

3 : a funnel-shaped device which is attached to the end of a long flexible hose suspended from a tanker airplane in flight and into which the probe of another airplane is fitted so as to receive fuel from the tanker

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Recent Examples of drogue from the Web

To have a chance at winning, college and university-level rockets had to reach 1 mile in altitude, deploy a drogue parachute at the top of the flight and a main chute at a lower altitude, and carry a working payload.

— lee roop, AL.com, "Relax, California, your Citrus College Rocket Owls had a blast in Alabama," 9 Apr. 2018
United Parachute Technologies was part of a team that designed the drogue parachute main and reserve canopies, as well as giving Eustace additional flight training.

— allison keyes, Smithsonian, "This Souped-Up Scuba Suit Made a Stratospheric Leap," 26 Jan. 2017
From up to 100 feet away, an officer can deploy the system: A replaceable aluminum launch tube ($175) fires a three-pound drogue, which pulls the strip across the road and drops it in the path of the unsuspecting criminal, all in under two seconds.

— david beard, Car and Driver, "Chase Enders: Police Spike Strips Tested!," 31 Aug. 2017
That system released the drogue immediately, and was combined with a spin resistant system that eliminated the uncontrolled spinning Baumgartner battled during his jump.

— allison keyes, Smithsonian, "This Souped-Up Scuba Suit Made a Stratospheric Leap," 26 Jan. 2017
After the Coolidge jump, the team decided to raise the attachment point of the drogue, moving it from the seat of the suit to the back of the neck.

— laura parker, The Atlantic, "Skydiving From the Edge of Space," 16 May 2017
The team tried to fix the problem by introducing a drogue—a round parachute about six feet across that is supposed to add stability.

— laura parker, The Atlantic, "Skydiving From the Edge of Space," 16 May 2017
The weapon is so big that, while the cargo plane is in the air, the bomb rolls out of the rear on a pallet, pulled by a drogue parachute.

— helene cooper and mujib mashal, New York Times, "U.S. Drops ‘Mother of All Bombs’ on ISIS Caves in Afghanistan," 13 Apr. 2017
Then saeber kicked in, launching the drogue and pushing Eustace into a downward position, facing Earth.

— laura parker, The Atlantic, "Skydiving From the Edge of Space," 16 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'drogue.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.