: a vertical takeoff by an aircraft or a rocket vehicle or missile
Examples of liftoff in a Sentence
a series of successful liftoffs
Thousand of spectators gathered to watch the liftoff of the space shuttle.
Recent Examples on the Web
The tech-heavy index enjoyed a liftoff from Nvidia and Microsoft, both of which reached all-time highs (and probably made some insiders at Nvidia multi-millionaires over the past month).
—
Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 30 June 2025
The first-stage booster made a successful 21st liftoff, but was expended to get the satellite to a geosynchronous transfer orbit.
—Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 29 June 2025
In the crash video shot from the rooftop, the landing gear truck is visibly in a front-wheel-down position after liftoff.
—Mika Gröndahl, New York Times, 28 June 2025
Almost a month later, on June 1, the spacecraft was less than four minutes away from liftoff when the ground launch sequencer — the computer that launches the rocket — triggered an automatic hold.
—Jillian Frankel, People.com, 6 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for liftoff
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Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 30 June 2025
The first-stage booster made a successful 21st liftoff, but was expended to get the satellite to a geosynchronous transfer orbit.
—Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 29 June 2025
In the crash video shot from the rooftop, the landing gear truck is visibly in a front-wheel-down position after liftoff.
—Mika Gröndahl, New York Times, 28 June 2025
Almost a month later, on June 1, the spacecraft was less than four minutes away from liftoff when the ground launch sequencer — the computer that launches the rocket — triggered an automatic hold.
—Jillian Frankel, People.com, 6 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for liftoff
Cite this Entry
“Liftoff.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/liftoff. Accessed 13 Jul. 2025.
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liftoff
noun
lift·off
ˈlif-ˌtȯf 
: a vertical takeoff (as by a rocket)
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