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
Oleksiy Pshemyskiy, ABC News, 25 Nov. 2023
His workers had acclimated to the occasional rocket flying overhead, but the breaching of the gates was a different story.
—Max Kim, Los Angeles Times, 24 Nov. 2023
Contrary to some perceptions, rockets do not work by pushing against anything in space.
—Paul M. Sutter, Discover Magazine, 23 Nov. 2023
While large solid rocket motors are employed by big launch vehicles such as NASA's Space Launch System and United Launch Alliance's Vulcan, they are most widely used in military weapon systems like missiles and rockets.
—Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 23 Nov. 2023
Then, the focus will likely shift to the southern region of the territory, which is where Hamas’ leaders and remaining rockets are believed to be located, along with the bulk of the Israeli hostages.
—Neri Zilber, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 Nov. 2023
If a rocket or drone kills American troops, the Biden administration will face a crisis of its own.
—Dominic Green, WSJ, 22 Nov. 2023
The rocket flew normally along the preset flight track, and the satellite entered orbit at 10:54 p.m., KCNA said, citing North Korea’s space agency.
—Stella Kim, NBC News, 22 Nov. 2023
SpaceX received clearance to launch its 400-foot Starship rocket after a first attempt in April ended in a fiery explosion.
—Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 16 Nov. 2023
Antonio Pequeño Iv, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2023
That app rocketed to popularity almost exactly a year ago, demonstrating the huge strides AI has made and making OpenAI the hottest tech startup on the planet.
—Patrick Smith, NBC News, 21 Nov. 2023
Despite not being a race car, the road version can still rocket from zero to 62 mph in 3.8 seconds and has a top speed of 199 mph.
—Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 7 Nov. 2023
Top speed then rockets to a positively zippy 46 mph.
—Howard Walker, Robb Report, 17 Nov. 2023
His first guest, The Rock, helped rocket the series to No. 1 on Spotify charts in the U.S. and elsewhere.
—Lacey Rose, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Nov. 2023
Despite the cap, Russia’s oil and gas tax revenue has rocketed upward, more than doubling in October compared with September.
—Richard Vanderford, WSJ, 16 Nov. 2023
But the advent of the CD — a near-perfect digital copy — and then file-sharing meant that an advance copy could be rocketed around the world within minutes.
—Jem Aswad, Variety, 27 Oct. 2023
At a recent meeting for hostage families, held in an underground parking garage because Tel Aviv continues to be rocketed, an Israeli government representative tried to calm down an angry crowd.
—Jeffrey Gettleman Tamir Kalifa, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2023
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rocket.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
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
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
Dictionary Entries Near rocket
Cite this Entry
“Rocket.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rocket. Accessed 5 Dec. 2023.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
rocket
1 of 2 noun
rocket
2 of 2 verbNoun
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
More from Merriam-Webster on rocket
Nglish: Translation of rocket for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of rocket for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about rocket
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