as in circling
to travel completely around
the moon orbits the Earth
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Recent Examples of orbiting
The three cosmonauts currently living on the orbiting lab — Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Sergei Mikaev and Andrey Fedyaev — did not participate.
—
Mike Wall, Space.com, 8 Apr. 2026
Among these was Skylab, America's first orbiting space station, which launched on May 14, 1973.
—Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 8 Apr. 2026
What feels inevitable now was once just three kids from Brownsville orbiting the same blocks.
—Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 8 Apr. 2026
The two teamed up for the world’s first all-female spacewalk in 2019 outside the orbiting lab.
—Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2026
The two teamed up for the world’s first all-female spacewalk in 2019 outside the orbiting lab.
—Marcia Dunn, Chicago Tribune, 7 Apr. 2026
Researchers argue that such systems could produce far more energy per unit area than terrestrial solar farms, as orbiting panels operate without atmospheric losses or cloud cover.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 6 Apr. 2026
The crew’s emotions on the eve of Easter Sunday had echoed those of their predecessors on Apollo 8, who had read from the biblical book of Genesis while orbiting the moon on Christmas Eve in 1968.
—Lee Billings, Scientific American, 6 Apr. 2026
The four-person crew is currently orbiting Earth before beginning a four-day trip to the moon.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2026
Mike Wall, Space.com, 8 Apr. 2026
Among these was Skylab, America's first orbiting space station, which launched on May 14, 1973.
—Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 8 Apr. 2026
What feels inevitable now was once just three kids from Brownsville orbiting the same blocks.
—Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 8 Apr. 2026
The two teamed up for the world’s first all-female spacewalk in 2019 outside the orbiting lab.
—Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2026
The two teamed up for the world’s first all-female spacewalk in 2019 outside the orbiting lab.
—Marcia Dunn, Chicago Tribune, 7 Apr. 2026
Researchers argue that such systems could produce far more energy per unit area than terrestrial solar farms, as orbiting panels operate without atmospheric losses or cloud cover.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 6 Apr. 2026
The crew’s emotions on the eve of Easter Sunday had echoed those of their predecessors on Apollo 8, who had read from the biblical book of Genesis while orbiting the moon on Christmas Eve in 1968.
—Lee Billings, Scientific American, 6 Apr. 2026
The four-person crew is currently orbiting Earth before beginning a four-day trip to the moon.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for orbiting
Verb
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The 10-day mission involves circling the moon in a flyby manner (and not landing on the surface) and, in doing so, establishing the record for the farthest that humans have ever ventured into space.—
Michael Peregrine,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Apr. 2026
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Financial regulators are already circling.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
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After 5½ hours on backcountry skis, traversing the Sierra Nevada’s rapidly melting snowpack beneath a scorching spring sun, the guide at the front of our group stopped and went silent.—
Jack Dolan,
Los Angeles Times,
2 Apr. 2026
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The Nile is Africa’s longest river, it and its principal tributaries traversing parts of 10 countries and several different physiographic regions.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Our beautiful encircling topography of mountains and hills is a bowl ready-made by ancient plate tectonics to be filled with smoke and smog.—
Patt Morrison,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Mar. 2026
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The rooms Spread over a handful of buildings encircling the central courtyard, Aleenta Retreat's 44 rooms range from spacious deluxe rooms with lounge-y balconies to two-story residences with two bedrooms and a small private courtyard with a plunge pool.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
17 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Orbiting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/orbiting. Accessed 10 Apr. 2026.
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