| 释义 |
▪ I. rocket, n.1 Now rare.|ˈrɒkɪt|
Forms: 3–5 roket (5 -ete, -ett, -ytte, 6 -it), 5 rocat, 6 rokkat, -et; 4– rocket (9 -at), 5–6 rockett, 8–9 rocquet.
[a. OF. roket, ro(c)quet, northern variant of rochet rochet1. Hence also Flem. rokket.]
1. = rochet1 1. Now dial. Also attrib.
c1290St. Agnes 73 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 183 A Roket he brouȝte on is hond to hire, ȝwittore nas neuere non. Þat [maide] dude on þis Roket. a1366Chaucer Rom. Rose 1240 Ther is no cloth sitteth bet On damiselle, than doth roket. A womman wel more fetys is In roket than in cote, y-wis. 1382Wyclif Gen. xxxviii. 14 The which [Thamar], the clothis of widewhed don down, toke to a roket [L. theristrum]. c1400Destr. Troy 13525 Þan Pirrus full prestly put of his clothes; Toke a Roket full rent,..couert hym þerwith. a1529Skelton E. Rummyng 54 In her furred flocket, And gray russet rocket. 1650Rel. Execution Montrose in Harl. Misc. (1745) V. 319 He came..into the Parliament-house with a Scarlet Rocket, and a Suit of pure Cloth. 1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 316 Persons of quality..wear, over this Coat, a kind of Rocket, without sleeves. 1688Holme Armoury iv. vi. (Roxb.) 322/1 There is an other kinde of Mantle called a Rockett Mantle... A Rockett is a scant cloak without a cape. c1710C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 205 You meete all sorts of Country women wrappd up in the mantles Called West Country Rockets, a Large Mantle doubled together of a sort of serge. 1823Scott Quentin D. Note D, Their only clothes a large old duffle garment,..and under it a miserable rocket. 1901F. E. Taylor Folk-Speech S. Lanc., Rocket, an outer garment worn by country-women.
2. Eccl. = rochet1 2. Chiefly Sc.
1382Wyclif Exod. xxix. 5 Thow shalt clothe Aaron with his clothes, that is to seie, with rocket, and coote, and coope. c1450Holland Howlat 172 In quhyte rocatis arrayd;..That thai war bischopis blist, I was the blythar. 1500–20Dunbar Poems lx. 33 Sum ramyis ane rokkat fra the roy. a1578Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 283 James Bettone..was taine out behind the hie allter and his rokit revin off him. 1647Ward Simp. Cobler 56 Hath Episcopacy beene such a religious Jewell..that you will sell all or most of your Coronets, Caps of honour, and blue Garters..for so many Rockets? 1686J. S[ergeant] Hist. Monast. Convent. 157 The Judge of Confidence, is attired in Purple, in the Habit of a Prelate, wearing a Rocket. 1808Scott Marm. vi. xi, With mitre sheen, and rocquet white. 1828–43Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) I. 326 The palls, copes, rocquets, crosiers, censers, and church plate, were..sumptuous.
▪ II. rocket, n.2|ˈrɒkɪt|
Also 6 rokat, rockat, rok(k)et, rocked, 8 rockett, roquet.
[a. F. roquette, ad. It. ruchetta, dim. of ruca:—L. ērūca a kind of cabbage. Hence also older Du. rocket(te.]
1. A cruciferous annual (Eruca sativa) having purple-veined white flowers and acrid leaves, used in Southern Europe as a salad. (Classed by Linnæus as Brassica eruca.) † Also, wild rocket, hedge mustard.
1530Palsgr. 263/2 Rocket an herbe, rocquette. 1548Turner Names Herbs (E.D.S.) 36 The other kynde called in latin Eruca syluestris is communely called in englishe Rokket, it hath a yealowe floure. 1578Lyte Dodoens 622 Rockat flowreth cheefely in Iune and Iuly. 1605Timme Quersit. Pref. p. vi, Like bad and unskilful herborists, to sowe rocket and to weede endive. 1693Evelyn De la Quint. Compl. Gard. II. 200 Rocket is one of our Sallet Furnitures, which is sown in the Spring as most of the others are. Its Leaf is pretty like that of Radishes. 1718Quincy Compl. Disp. 115 Rocket.—This is not often met with either in Composition or Prescription. 1731Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Erucago, It may be propagated in like manner as the Rocket; but..is hardly worth cultivating. 1746P. Francis tr. Hor. Sat. ii. viii. 68 I first..knew Roquets and herbs in cockle brine to stew.
b. With specific epithets, esp. garden rocket, Roman rocket, and rocket gentle.
For an enumeration of the varieties see Miller Gard. Dict. (1731) and Chambers Cycl. Suppl. (1753), s.v. Eruca.
1548Turner Names Herbes (E.D.S.) 36 After Dioscorides and Plinie there are two kyndes of rokket. The one is gardine Rokket, whiche is much greater then the other, and it hath a white leafe, some abuse thys for whyte mustarde. c1550H. Lloyd Treas. Health Y v, ȝ i. of Nettels sede roket royal. 1578Lyte Dodoens 629 Erysimon hath long leaves not muche unlyke the leaves of Rockat gentle. 1597Gerarde Herbal 191 Garden Rocket or Rocket gentle, hath broade leaues like those of Turneps. Ibid. 192 Romaine Rocket is cherished in gardens. 1629Parkinson Parad. ii. xxxiv. 502 Our Garden Rocket is but a wilde kinde brought into Gardens. 1731Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Eruca, Great Garden Rocket, with a white strip'd Flower,..was formerly very much cultivated in Gardens as a Sallad-Herb, but at present is very little us'd. 1753Chambers Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Eruca, The broad-leav'd, narrow-podded Rockett, called the Rockett gentle, or Roman Rockett. 1830Edin. Encycl. XI. 283/2 Garden Rocket..is an annual plant, a native of Switzerland. 1855Delamer Kitch. Gard. (1861) 113 Garden Rocket... Not unusually eaten in France, where it comes up in gardens like a weed.
2. A cruciferous plant of the genus Hesperis, esp. H. matronalis, a garden-flower which is sweet-scented after dark.
[1629Parkinson Parad. 264 Dodonæus accounteth the ordinary sort [of Hesperis] to be a kinde of Rocket. ]
1731Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Hesperis, The double white Rocket is by far the most beautiful plant of all the Kinds. 1785Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xxiii. (1794) 323 Rocket has the petals obliquely bent. 1829Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XX. 244 H. matronalis, the Rocket, of which there are several cultivated varieties, is a native of England. 1856Delamer Fl. Gard. (1861) 102 The Garden Rocket varies in colour from light blush or French white, to light purple or violet. 1882Garden 27 May 358/2 A pure white single Rocket, with dense-set, small flowers.
3. With qualifying word prefixed, applied to various plants:
base rocket, the wild mignonette (Reseda luteola). bastard rocket, † (a) = prec.; (b) one of the mustard plants (Brassica erucastrum). blue rocket, (a) one of several kinds of wolf's-bane or aconite, esp. Aconitum Napellus; (b) applied to various kinds of larkspur (Delphinium); (c) the blue-bell (Scilla nutans). corn rocket, a salad plant, Bunias or Crambe orientalis. † crambling rocket = scrambling rocket. cress rocket (see cress 3). dame's rocket, dame's violet (see sense 2). dyer's rocket (see dyer 2). false rocket, U.S., a cruciferous perennial (Iodanthus pinnatifida). golden rocket = London rocket. Italian rocket = base rocket. London rocket (see London). marsh rocket (see marsh1 4 c). native, scrambling, sea rocket (see quots.). square-codded or -podded, Turkish rocket = corn-rocket. wall rocket = wild rocket. water rocket (see quot. 1796). white rocket = sense 2. wild rocket, hedge mustard. winter rocket (see quots.). † wound rocket, Turner's name for Herb Barbara. yellow rocket, the winter-cress (cress 1 b).
1775Jenkinson Brit. Plants 102 Reseda Lutea. *Base Rocket with all the leaves trifid. 1828J. E. Smith Eng. Flora II. 348 R. lutea. Base Rocket. Wild Mignonette. 1863[see base a. 1 b].
1760J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 324 Rocket, *Bastard, Reseda. 1866Treas. Bot. 987/2 Rocket, Bastard, Brassica Erucastrum.
1827T. Forster Encycl. Nat. Phenomena 290 Monkshood and several sorts of Wolfsbane, and Larkspur now are in full flower, the long blue spikes of some of these flowers in our cottage gardens are called *blue rockets. 1848A. S. Taylor Poisons 763 Monkshood..which is also known under the name of Wolfs⁓bane and Blue-Rocket. 1882Hardwicke's Science Gossip 43 Wild Hyacinth (Agraphis nutans), ‘Blue rocket’.
1731Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Erucago, We have but one Species of this Plant, which is..*Corn-Rocket. 1753Chambers Cycl. Suppl. App., Corn-Rocket, or square-podded Rocket, a distinct genus of plants, called by botanists Erucago. 1760J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 324 Rocket, Corn, Bunias.
1597Gerarde Herbal 215 *Crambling Rocket hath many large leaues cut into sundry sections.
1775Jenkinson Brit. Plants 147 Vella annua. *Cresse Rocket with pinnatifid leaves. 1822Hortus Anglicus II. 146 Vella Pseudo Cytisus, Shrubby Cress Rocket.
1866Treas. Bot. 987/2 Rocket, *Dame's, Hesperis matronalis.
1828J. E. Smith Eng. Flora II. 347 Reseda luteola. *Dyer's Rocket.
1856A. Gray Man. Bot. 31 Iodanthus, *False Rocket.
1597Gerarde Herbal 278 Reseda is called..in English *Italian Rocket.
1898Morris Austral Eng. 392/1 Rocket, *Native, a Tasmanian name for Epacris lanuginosa.
1796Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) III. 584 Erysimum officinale..Hedge Mustard, or Wormseed. Bank Cresses. *Scrambling Rocket.
1611Cotgr., Cachile, *Sea-rocket. 1796Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) III. 563 Bunias Cakile, Sea Rocket. 1846–50A. Wood Class-bk. Bot. 171 Cakile Maritima,..Sea Rocket... Native of the sea-coast! and of the lake-shores of N.Y.
1760J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 324 Rocket, *Square-codded, of Montpelier, Bunias.
1753Chambers Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Erucago, This plant has been called, by other authors, the *square podded rockett, and the echinated mustard.
1887Amer. Naturalist XXI. 442 It is called in England *Turkish Rocket.
1611Cotgr., Roquette sauvage, wild Rocket, *wall Rocket.
c1710Petiver Catal. Ray's Eng. Herbal xlvi, *Water Rocket. 1753Chambers Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Sisymbrium, The creeping water-sisymbrium with leaves like those of the nasturtiums. This is called by some water-rocket. 1796Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) III. 581 Sisymbrium sylvestre. Creeping Water Cress. Water Rocket.
1866Treas. Bot. II. 987/2 Rocket, *white, Hesperis matronalis.
1578Lyte Dodoens 621 Eruca sylvestris. *Wild Rockat. 1830Edin. Encycl. XI. 283/2 Wild-rocket, or Hedge-mustard.., has been sometimes sown and used as a spring pot-herb.
1753Chambers Cycl. Suppl. App., Water-Rocket, or *Winter-Rocket, the name of a species of Sisymbrium. 1796Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) III. 584 Erysimum Barbarea. Winter Cresses. Winter Rocket. Rocket Wormseed.
1548Turner Names Herbes (E.D.S.) 82 Barbare herba..hath leaues lyke Rocket, wherefore it maye be called in englishe *wound-rocket, for it is good for a wounde.
1826–7Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XVIII. 616/1 Erysimum officinale, Barbareum, a double variety is cultivated in gardens, and is called the Double *Yellow Rocket. 1863Prior Plant-n. 191 Rocket, winter-, or Yellow-, Barbarea vulgaris.
4. attrib. and Comb., as rocket-seed; rocket-like, rocket-leaved adjs.; rocket larkspur (see quots.); † rocket watercress, the meadow cress (cress 1 b); rocket wormseed = winter rocket (see 3); rocket yellow-weed = base rocket (see 3).
1548Turner Names Herbes (E.D.S.) 74 Sisymbrium alterum is called also Cardamine, and in english water cresses, or rocket water cresses. 1580Blundevil Horsemanship iii. 34 Some would giue him Onions and Roket seede to drinke with wine. 1661Culpepper Lond. Disp. 18/1 Rocket seed, provokes urine. 1753Chambers Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Crambe, The broad rocket-leav'd sea crambe. Ibid., The narrower-leav'd, rocket-like sea crambe. 1796Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 446 Reseda lutea. Rocket Yellow-weed. 1852G. W. Johnson Cottage Gard. Dict. 782/1 Rocket Larkspur, Delphinium ajacis. 1866Treas. Bot. 325/1 Delphinium orientale and D. Ajacis, the rocket larkspurs, are often cultivated.
5. A butterfly of the genus Mancipium.
1832J. Rennie Consp. Butterfl. & M. 4 The Rocket (M. Daplidice, Hubner) appears April, May and August.
▪ III. rocket, n.3|ˈrɒkɪt|
Also 7 racket, rocquet.
[a. F. roquet (16th c.), or ad. It. rocchetta, in med.L. roccheta, rocheta (1379), app. a dim. of It. rocca rock n.2, with reference to the form of the thing. With the form racket cf. F. raquette, G. rakete (earlier rackete, rachete, and racket), Du., Da., and Sw. raket.]
1. a. An apparatus consisting of a cylindrical case of paper or metal containing an inflammable composition, by the ignition of which it may be projected to a height or distance.
Pyrotechnic rockets are usually constructed so as to burst in the air and scatter a shower of sparks. Congreve rocket: see Congreve 1.
1611Florio, Rocchello,..any kind of rocket or squib of wilde fire... Rocchetti, rockets, or squibs of wilde-fire. 1624Capt. Smith Virginia iii. 60 In the evening we fired a few rackets, which flying in the ayre..terrified the poore Salvages. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. xiii. 87 To make the Composition for Rockets of any size. Ibid. 88 Rockets that will run upon a Line. 1714Lond. Gaz. No. 5258/1 Any Squibs, Rockets, Serpents or other Fireworks. 1766R. Jones Fireworks ii. 57 All rockets under one pound are made chiefly of gun-powder and charcoal. 1816Byron Siege Cor. xxxiii, Up to the sky like rockets go All that mingled there below. 1858Greener Gunnery 123 My experience with rockets goes to justify me in asserting that rockets discharged from a gun..can be..effectually controlled. 1889Infantry Drill 425 Rockets with fireballs of different colours are best for signalling during night attacks.
fig.1716Gay Trivia iii. 414 When..Tragedies, turn'd Rockets, bounce in Air. 1751Earl of Orrery Remarks Swift (1752) 53 His friend Dr. Sheridan, who..was continually letting off squibs, rockets, and all sorts of little fireworks from the press.
b. In proverbial phr. to rise like a rocket and fall like a stick (cf. stick n.1 4 h) and varr., describing a sudden, meteoric rise and subsequent fall, as of fortune, etc.
1792T. Paine Let. to Addressers 4 As he [sc. Burke] rose like a rocket, he fell like the stick. 1838R. H. Barham Let. 7 Mar. (1870) II. vii. 48 Poor man, he has gone up like a rocket and is coming down like the stick. 1909Brit. Weekly 7 Jan. 405/3 We know the talk about a man going up like a rocket and coming down like a stick... It is generally the man's own fault. 1922Joyce Ulysses 364 My fireworks. Up like a rocket, down like a stick. 1950G. B. Shaw Farfetched Fables 83 Political adventurers and ‘tin Jesuses’ rose like rockets to dictatorships and fell to earth like sticks.
c. Any elongated device or craft (as a flying bomb, a missile, a spacecraft) in which a rocket engine is the means of propulsion.
1919R. H. Goddard Method of reaching Extreme Altitudes (Smithsonian Misc. Coll. LXXI. No. 2) 1 The problem was to determine the minimum initial mass of an ideal rocket necessary, in order that on continuous loss of mass, a final mass of one pound would remain, at any desired altitude. 1920Photo Play 7 Sept. 1/1 The theory of a Professor Goddard that a rocket could be sent to the moon. Ibid., The propulsive power of the rocket..is derived from a series of multiple charges. 1929Amazing Stories May 151 In the meantime, Dr. Mueller busied himself with making the rocket shipshape, for in spite of every precaution the supplies were in chaos. 1944Times 11 Nov. 2/1 For the last few weeks the enemy has been using his new weapon, the long-range rocket, and a number have landed at widely scattered points in this country. 1949W. Ley Conquest of Space (1950) i. 21 The rocket is a mile high and the spectators realize that there is still a deafening sound beating upon their ears. 1964Yearbk. Astron. 1965 160 The rocket plummeted down near Guericke in the Mare Nubium, within a few miles of its intended position. 1970N. Armstrong et al. First on Moon iv. 76 At the time of Apollo II there was no doubt that the Saturn V was the most powerful operational rocket on earth. 1977Whitaker's Almanack 1978 595/1 Mozambique troops fired rockets into the centre of Rhodesia's border city of Umtali but damage was stated to be minimal.
d. In full rocket engine or rocket motor. An engine operating on the principle of the pyrotechnic rocket, providing thrust by the same method as a jet engine but without depending on the surrounding air for combustion (see also quot. 1971).
1919R. H. Goddard Method of reaching Extreme Altitudes (Smithsonian Misc. Coll. LXXI. No. 2) 6 By application of the above principles, it is possible to convert the rocket from a very inefficient heat engine into the most efficient heat engine that ever has been devised. 1929Sci. Wonder Q. Fall 7 Prof. Hermann Oberth, a German of Mediarch, and Prof. Robert H. Goddard, an American of Worcester, Massachusetts..have solved it, though..only theoretically, by means of the rocket motor. 1931Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXV. 34 The fuel loading for rocket engines is a different matter from that of an engine of the explosion type. 1939Astounding Sci. Fiction May 61/1 Each man in the crew tensed himself, gathering his abdominal muscles to resist the enormous acceleration developed by the launching catapult and the ship's own rockets acting in conjunction. 1960C. H. Gibbs-Smith Aeroplane xv. 122 The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet fighter..had swept-back wings, a Walter liquid-fuel rocket motor, and a speed of 590 m.p.h. 1965W. R. Corliss Space Probes & Planetary Exploration x. 204 Because they will be used for delicate maneuvers, the on⁓board rockets have to be precisely controlled not only in thrust level but also in thrust duration and direction. 1971P. J. McMahon Aircraft Propulsion x. 294 The convention of speaking of liquid fuel rocket engines but of solid fuel rocket motors is established in Britain. 1972Guinness Bk. Records 128/2 The car was powered by a liquid natural gas/hydrogen peroxide rocket engine delivering 22,000 lb. s.t. maximum and thus theoretically capable of 900 m.p.h. 1977Engin. Materials & Design Aug. 25/1 In rocket motors extremely high temperatures are developed (up to 3500°C). 1977I. Ridpath Signs of Life viii. 153 In its simplest form, the nuclear rocket uses as a propellant liquid hydrogen, which is heated to a gas by the reactor and expelled at high speed.
e. off one's rocket, mad. Cf. rocker1 2 c. slang.
1925Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 244 Rocket, off one's, mad. 1959I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. x. 179 He is cracked, he's cuckoo... He's off his rocket (‘Off your rocket’ is a development of ‘off your rocker’).
f. A severe reprimand. Freq. to give (or get) a rocket. slang (orig. Mil.).
1941New Statesman 30 Aug. 218/3 [War-time slang.] To stop a rocket, receive a reprimand. 1942E. Waugh Put out More Flags ii. 153 The C.O. led Captain Brown away. ‘He's getting a rocket,’ said the anti-tank man. a1944K. Douglas Alamein to Zem Zem (1946) xii. 77, I contended [sic] myself with giving him a rocket, and told them to hurry up and mend the tank. 1949‘N. Blake’ Head of Traveller iii. xiv. 231 Your Superintendent gave me a rocket yesterday about ‘harbouring her’, as he put it. 1957I. Murdoch Sandcastle vii. 104 Demoyte had pondered the outrage..made a mental note to give Mor a rocket when he next saw him,..and felt immensely better. 1961A. Wilson Old Men at Zoo i. 36 If Beard's to blame, then he should get the rocket. 1975J. I. M. Stewart Young Pattullo vii. 155 Fish was sent to the Provost and given a rocket.
2. transf.
a. U.S. A form of cheering used in certain American universities.
1868in Westm. Gaz. (1901) 26 Sept. 3/1 Three cheers..were given with a will, followed by the usual tiger and ‘rocket’. 1879Princeton Bk. 387 The twofold tradition in regard to the origin of the college cheer, or Nassau rocket.
b. A rapid rise to a high note. nonce-use.
1894Du Maurier Trilby III. 138 The little soft ascending rocket, up to E in alt.
3. attrib. and Comb., as rocket aeroplane, rocket age, rocket airplane, rocket apparatus, rocket base, rocket battalion, rocket boat, rocket boy, rocket brigade, rocket engineer, rocket flight, rocket flyer, rocket flying, rocket frame, rocket fuel, rocket installation, rocket jet, rocket-maker, rocket pilot, rocket projectile, rocket propellant, rocket propulsion, rocket research, rocket scientist, etc.; also rocket-launching vbl. n. and ppl. adj., rocket-shooting vbl. n.; rocket-assisted, rocket-boosted, rocket-borne, rocket-carrying, rocket-driven, rocket-firing, rocket-powered, rocket-propelled, rocket-tracking adjs.; rocket-like adv.; rocket astronomy, the branch of astronomy in which measurements are made by instruments carried by rockets above the atmosphere; rocket-bird, an Indian bird (see quot.); rocket-bomb, (a) (see quot. 1895); (b) = flying bomb s.v. flying vbl. n. 3; (see also quot. 1973); rocket car, a car powered by a rocket engine; rocket chamber, the combustion chamber of a rocket engine; rocket gun, a gun firing rockets; rocket launcher, a device or structure for launching rockets; rocket-man, (a) a soldier responsible for firing rockets (? obs.); (b) colloq., an astronaut; rocket net n., a net having small rockets attached, which is laid on the ground and then propelled so as to envelop a group of feeding birds for ringing; hence rocket-net v. trans., to trap in this way; rocket netting vbl. n.; rocket pad, a launching pad for a rocket; rocket plane, (a) an aircraft powered by a rocket motor; (b) an aeroplane armed with rockets; rocket projector = rocket launcher above; rocket range, (a) a rocket-launching range (cf. range n.1 11 c); (b) the area within range of a rocket; rocket-rattling vbl. n. and ppl. a. colloq., threatening with the military use of rockets or nuclear weapons (after sabre-rattling s.v. sabre n. 4 a); rocket ship, (a) a spaceship powered by rockets; (b) a warship armed with rockets; rocket sled: see sled n.1 2 b; rocket tube, (a) a tube out of which a rocket is fired; † (b) a rocket motor.
1932H. Nicolson Public Faces i. 16 With this explosion chamber the problem of the *rocket aeroplane was finally solved.
1959Globe & Mail (Toronto) 15 July 1/3 Scout laws created in the horse and buggy days don't always fit into today's *rocket age. 1959Listener 10 Dec. 1024/1 The strange and striking contrasts that must exist between the buildings of the Victorian and Edwardian periods and those that will be put up in the Rocket Age.
1928Sci. Amer. Sept. 260/1 (heading) Can there be a *Rocket Airplane? 1929Amazing Stories May 148 The series of experiments were given their first impetus by the German rocket airplanes, successfully designed for the Berlin-to-New York air service.
1880Daily News 26 Nov. 2/2 The lifeboat being of no avail, the *rocket apparatus was got into action.
1941Flight 23 Jan. p. b/1 It may be expected that *rocket-assisted take-off can be made more effective if not very efficient. 1950Sci. News XV. 82 Rocket assisted take-offs by heavy bombers are quite common. 1959Economist 17 Jan. 221/1 The RAT (rocket-assisted torpedo), a complicated but highly praised anti-submarine device.
1960McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. XI. 600/2 *Rocket astronomy, first used in 1945 in the United States with German V-2 rockets, has been especially fruitful in studies of solar phenomena. 1971New Scientist 18 Mar. 636/2 The emphasis is on the more modern approach which has grown up over the past 10 years as balloon and rocket astronomy have aided observations.
1954M. Caidin Worlds in Space 177 In the opinion of many, the combination of the moon-launched rocket with an atomic bomb war head merited a thorough investigation of the value of the lunar *rocket base. 1958New Statesman 4 Jan. 1/1 The government seems determined to go ahead and establish American rocket-bases in Britain.
1976New Yorker 15 Mar. 79/1 He explained that Intelligence had come to suspect that a North Vietnamese Army *rocket-battalion command group had moved into the Song Quan Valley.
1885Field 4 Apr. 454/1 The Paradise flycatcher (Tchitræa paradisi), generally yclept the *rocket bird by our countrymen.
c1829D. Jerrold in M. R. Booth Eng. Plays of 19th Cent. (1969) I. 168 I'd fight yard-arm to yard-arm for you.., or fight in a *rocket boat. c1860J. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 9 They can..be fitted as rocket boats. 1948W. Ley Rockets & Space Travel 197 They..were massed on the decks of special ‘rocketboats’, rack after rack of self-propelled projectiles, fired electrically from below deck... One such rocket boat could, in the space of a few minutes, throw as much steel and high explosive as the turrets of three battleships.
1883Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 199 The bomb-lance, dasting-bomb, and *rocket-bomb. 1895Funk's Stand. Dict., Rocket-bomb, a harpoon-rocket. 1943Mrs. Belloc Lowndes Let. 20 Dec. (1971) 247 A good many people believe the rocket-bomb is coming, but a famous airman laughed at the idea of its being a real danger to London. 1949‘G. Orwell’ Nineteen Eighty-Four i. viii. 85 ‘Steamer’ was a nickname which..the proles applied to rocket bombs. 1973J. Quick Dict. Weapons & Mil. Terms 375/3 Rocket bomb, an aerial bomb equipped with a rocket to give it added velocity and penetrating power after being dropped from an aircraft.
1958Technology Mar. 25/1 Scientists and the services have hurried into print with space plans.., among them *rocket-boosted..engines to fire a payload to the moon.
1962W. B. Thompson Introd. Plasma Physics i. 4 Recently, *rocket- and satellite-*borne counters have detected belts of energetic radiation..high above the earth's atmosphere. 1971Sci. Amer. July 74/2 X-ray observations with rocket-borne instruments have shown that the remnant of Tycho's nova is also a strong source of X rays.
1782in Gentl. Mag. (1818) LXXXVIII. ii. 123 Their infantry and *rocket-boys gained the back of the hill.
1813Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1838) XI. 314 I have received your letter of the 11th regarding the *Rocket brigade.
1930Times Educ. Suppl. 25 Oct. p. iv/1 The *rocket-car experiments of the late Herr Max Valier. 1976Star (Sheffield) 30 Nov. 12/9 Gabelich strapped himself into a rocket car named Blue Flame and covered two measured miles..at an average speed of 630 mph.
1961Guardian 25 Oct. 11/2 *Rocket-carrying submarines.
1936Smithsonian Misc. Coll. XCV. No. 3. 2 In these experiments it was shown that a *rocket chamber and nozzle, since termed a ‘rocket motor’, could use liquid oxygen together with a liquid fuel, and could exert a lifting force without danger of explosion. 1939Astounding Sci. Fiction May 59/1 Injecting excess charges of fuel into the rocket chambers.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1960/1 *Rocket-drift, a cylinder of wood tipped with copper, employed for driving rockets.
1928*Rocket-driven [see rocket-propelled below]. 1978R. V. Jones Most Secret War viii. 68 The German Navy was said to have developed remote-controlled rocket-driven gliders of about three metres span and three metres long.
1951Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LV. 92/1 Rocket propellants must have certain undesirable features, and it is the task of the *rocket engineer to minimise the consequences of these.
1834Penny Cycl. II. 420/1 A *rocket establishment now forms a regular branch of the British military service.
a1854H. Reed Lect. Brit. Poets xiv. (1857) 171 A *rocket fire will leap up into the heavens, outshining and outstripping the stars.
1970H. Trevelyan Middle East in Revolution 149 The Iraqi Air Force..attacked the rebel headquarters with *rocket-firing aircraft. 1978R. V. Jones Most Secret War xliii. 403 The attack took place on 16th March with rocket-firing Typhoons of No. 198 Squadron.
1930H. Chatley Princ. Rocket Propulsion 3 This is the basis of the dreams of *rocket flight to the moon. 1934H. G. Wells Exper. Autobiogr. I. vi. 328 They did not so much climb to success; they were rather caught by success and blown sky high... Only one item in this rocket flight is significant here. 1959Times Lit. Suppl. 20 Mar. 167/2 The book is, in the main, a really excellent elementary account of rocket flight and space travel.
1799G. Smith Laboratory I. 26 Of *rocket-flyers, and the manner of charging them. 1927Amazing Stories Nov. 725 Many schemes have been proposed for space flying, and some of the more recent ones, notably the Goddard Rocket Flyer, seem to come closest toward a strictly scientific solution of the problem. 1939Ibid. Sept. 112 She had attached herself to him, demanding that he teach her how to pilot a rocket flier.
1929Sci. Wonder Q. Fall 7 While writing the story, the author has had the collaboration of practically all the German scientists who have of late come into prominence in their researches into not only *rocket flying, but space flying and astro-physics. 1931Wonder Stories Jan. 900 We have succeeded in securing near Berlin a suitable rocket flying field, a large field on which the starting supports for the different rockets were set up.
1835J. E. Alexander Sketches in Portugal v. 126 Saldanha's artillery consisted of four 5½-inch howitzers, six 9-pounders, six of 6, two of 3, and three *rocket frames. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Rocket-Frame, the stand from which Congreve rockets are fired.
1931Amazing Stories Dec. 804 A battleship has destroyed Albertville, Ontario, site of the Canadian *rocketfuel factory and magazine. 1937Discovery Sept. 277/2 Equipping this type of aeroplane with rocket engines, complete with rocket fuel. 1977Time 18 July 35/3 It is known as phencyclidine hydrochloride, but youngsters on this latest and fastest-spreading high know it as ‘angel dust’, ‘rocket fuel’ and ‘goon’.
1884Bull. U.S. Nat. Museum No. 27. 281 The *rocket-gun..throws a large rocket and explosive lance weighing eighteen or twenty pounds, which acts in the capacity of a harpoon and bomb, and is used mainly in coast whaling. 1935Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXIX. 410 The main characteristic of..rocket guns..is the increase of their efficiency when the ratio of weight of the rocket..to the weight of the charge decreases. 1944Jane's All World's Aircraft p. iii/2 The rocket-guns with which some..fighters were equipped..enabled them to attack.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1960/1, *Rocket-harpoon, a device for killing whales. It consists of a rocket having a pointed shell at its front.
1959E. H. Clements High Tension ii. 33 The Hebridean *rocket-installations.
1944Aviation Jan. 149/3 The mass of a *rocket jet can be readily varied by feeding more or less fuel..into the rocket motor.
1944*Rocket launcher [see launcher 2]. 1977N.Y. Rev. Bks. 23 June 3/2 He learned to slaughter people with rifles and knives and explosives or to blast them to pieces with rocket launchers.
1956A. H. Compton Atomic Quest 223 The great installations along the coast..turned out to be *rocket launching platforms. 1968Times 16 Dec. 7/3 The systematic recording of disturbances like these could be used to provide remote observers with information about rocket launchings. 1973D. Kyle Raft of Swords (1974) iii. 19 Our force of rocket-launching submarines came into service.
1832Scott Redgauntlet Note P, The Scots people assembled in numbers by signal of *rocket lights.
1856R. A. Vaughan Mystics (1860) I. 96 Up mounts speculation, *rocket-like. 1952S. Spender Learning Laughter 38 There was a screen of cypress trees with the column of one palm tree in their midst, bursting rocket-like at the apex.
1882Encycl. Brit. XIV. 572/2 The tail-block, having been detached from the *rocket-line, is fastened to a mast, or other portion of the wreck, high above the water.
1799C. Butler Hor. Bibl. 126 They had been sold to a *rocket-maker.
1821G. R. Gleig Narr. Campaigns Brit. Army xix. 270 Attached to this corps of infantry, were a party of *rocket-men, and two light three-pounder guns. 1938Sci. Amer. May 270 (heading) Number one rocket man. 1964Galaxy Mag. Oct. 181/1, I was a Rocketman 3/c on the Moon, guarding the Aristarchus base against invaders from outer space. 1972Melody Maker 20 May 16/2 Elton John remains..a writer (with Bernie Taupin) of songs of lasting merit... The success of his beautiful ‘Rocket Man’ single proves that he has survived all the flack.
1858Homans Cycl. Comm. 1215/2 The establishment of life-boats and *rocket-mortars at all the dangerous parts of the coast.
1948Severn Wildfowl Trust Ann. Rep. 43 Although this report is primarily concerned with the activities of the Trust during the year 1947, it seems that such an important development as the first attempt with the Trust's new *rocket nets for ringing the wild geese should be included although it took place early in 1948. 1952Blackw. Mag. Feb. 106/1 When they want to tell t'other from which, they rocket-net them and paint their sterns. 1954Brit. Birds XLVII. 316 By rocket nets, it has been possible to make an intensive study of the population of the Pinkfoot. 1973Wildfowl XXIV. 164/2 A lot of effort went into attempting to rocket net Barnacle Geese. 1979Ibid. XXX. 165/2 A single catch of 372 Barnacle Geese at Caerlaverock in October (one of the largest catches made with rocket nets) provided much valuable data.
1953Severn Wildfowl Trust 5th Ann. Rep. 22 The *rocket-netting technique has undergone considerable modification during the four years since the first experiments were made. 1969Wildfowl XX. 86/1 The Wildfowl Trust's rocket-netting programme had concentrated on the Pink-footed Goose since this proved the easiest to trap in the large numbers needed.
1965Time 23 July 36 For those pictures, JPL's boss..and his crew had sweated out Mariner's launch from a Cape Kennedy *rocket pad. 1977Jersey Even. Post 26 July 14/3 It was vandalized by the German rocket-pad crews.
1949R. A. Heinlein Red Planet i. 6, I still think I'd like to be a *rocket pilot. 1958C. C. Adams Space Flight p. vii, There have been space books for children—our present space cadets and future rocket pilots.
1928Pop. Mechanics Nov. 718/2 Valier has calculated that a *rocket plane could be shot from Berlin to New York in ninety-three minutes. 1929Mech. Engin. Nov. 865/1 The rocket plane with its possibility of moving at speeds..would seem to be the answer to the problem of quick transportation. 1932A. Huxley Brave New World iv. 70 The deeper drone of the rocket-planes hastening, invisible, through the bright sky five or six miles overhead. 1945Daily Tel. 7 Aug. 1/6 R.A.F. shattered panzer counter-attack in Normandy. Rocket planes knocked out 35 tanks. 1949Ann. Reg. 1948 iv. 416 Earlier in the year (in May) it was reported from America that the rocket-plane Bell XS-1 had been flown faster than sound. 1965W. R. Corliss Space Probes & Planetary Exploration x. 209 Rocket planes and helicopters are possible prime movers for unmanned landers, but surface locomotion is much more likely.
1799G. Smith Laboratory I. 16 How to proportion the *rocket-poles.
1936Pop. Science May 16/2 An experimental *rocket-powered glider..carried the cargo to its intended destination. 1948Electronics June 93/1 Rocket-powered engines of one particular type employ two kinds of fuel. 1959Daily Tel. 23 Feb. 11/6 This year two test pilots are expected to make the first flights in the rocket-powered North American X-15.
1943Fortune June 92/2 A strange gun called the bazooka that fires a *rocket projectile. 1944T. N. Dalton Jet Propulsion 44 The Encyclopaedia Britannica says that rocket projectiles were used by the Chinese.
1945L. E. O. Charlton R.A.F. & U.S.A.A.F. July 1943–Sept. 1944 292 (caption) Thunderbolt showing *rocket projectors fitted to one of its wings. 1961B. Fergusson Watery Maze ix. 235 The mass of rocket projectors pointing into the air from an LCT 2.
1932Bull. Amer. Interplanetary Soc. Feb. 8 How best can we utilize each of these as a *rocket propellent? 1944C. P. Lent Rocket Res. 67/1 After using the rocket propellants the flying weight is only 1780 Kg and during the period of ascent the total weight averages less than 2000 Kg.
1928Sci. Amer. Sept. 260/1 The recent German experiments with *rocket propelled cars and gliders have attracted much attention, and it is now asked whether rocket-driven airplanes are not possible, navigating at fantastic speeds. 1951Mind LX. 119 We have the idea now of a rocket-propelled missile capable of flying from Moscow to New York. 1978R. V. Jones Most Secret War xxxix. 371, I already knew of two liquids used by the Germans in the rocket-propelled glider bombs they had been using against our ships.
1928Explosives Engineer VI. 457 (heading) Motoring by *rocket propulsion. 1929Sci. Wonder Stories Aug. 265 Aeronautical authorities have stated recently that the future development of the airplane will be along the lines of rocket-propulsion. 1942Aeronautics Aug. 49/2 The greatest reason against rocket propulsion of aeroplanes is the question of oxygen, its weight and storage in an aeroplane. 1963Listener 23 May 866/1 Even before Verne's death the idea of using rocket propulsion for space-travel had been put forward by..Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovskii.
1948Hansard Commons 15 Mar. 1805 We have joint research stations; for instance, the one about which there has been considerable publicity, the *rocket range in Australia. 1971‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Doctor Bird ii. 24 The tracking of moonshots and other missiles from the American rocket range is done by the electronic brains in these stations. 1976New Yorker 15 Mar. 79/1 A..command group had moved into the Song Quan Valley, ten miles to the west and almost within rocket range of the division headquarters.
1960News Chron. 21 July 4/5 The..retaliation threats, the *rocket-rattling over Cuba. 1961Sunday Express 29 Jan. 1/4 President Kennedy has put a sharp curb on rocket-rattling, anti-Russian speeches. 1969Guardian 31 Mar. 10/1 Rocket-rattling by any large Power over a weaker neighbour is deplorable.
1937Discovery Sept. 269/1 Fundamental problems of *rocket research. 1977Whitaker's Almanack 1978 165/1 The progress of rocket research during the last war led to the development by the Germans in 1944 of the V.2 rocket.
1952Sun (Baltimore) 5 Sept. 2/6 Take it from the *rocket scientists who expect to fly to Mars some day—flying saucers are not space ships from another planet. 1959Listener 5 Mar. 410/1 Rocket-scientists are not unaware of this.
1927Literary Digest 25 June 20/1 He [sc. Max Valier] is even now building a *rocket-ship. 1928Amazing Stories Aug. 427 Not to mention the rocketships that might be in the air. 1936Forum & Century July 38/2 But the question of whether rocket ships will ever reach the planets can be even approximately answered only when intensive research has been carried on over many years. 1951W. Ley Rockets, Missiles & Space Travel p. viii (caption) One of the Navy's ‘rocket ships’ bombarding Peleliu Island on the same morning that was D-Day in Europe. 1969New Yorker 12 Apr. 53/1 Anybody on earth with a pair of binoculars can see that setting a rocket ship down there would be a tricky operation. 1981Daily Tel. 15 Apr. 1 The American space shuttle landed on a dry lake bed in California's Mojave Desert yesterday to complete the maiden flight of the first re-usable rocketship.
1925R. Graves Welchman's Hose 35 And watched the nightly *rocket-shooting, varied With red and green, and livened with gun-fire.
1882Encycl. Brit. XIV. 572/2 The *rocket stations on the coast at the 30th June 1881 numbered 288.
1799G. Smith Laboratory I. 16 How to proportion the *rocket sticks. 1884Froude Carlyle Life Lond. II. 273 He had just discovered that he could not end with ‘Frederick’ like a rocket-stick.
1971‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Doctor Bird ii. 24 There are four main *rocket-tracking stations in the Bahamas.
1841Penny Cycl. XX. 55/1 In 1813 the British *rocket-troop rendered considerable service at the battle of Leipzig.
1881W. D. Hay 300 Years Hence iv. 70 The largest [projectiles] requiring apparatus like the old *rocket-tubes and howitzers, and dealing certain death to every living thing within a mile of the place of explosion. 1898D. Beatty Diary 8 Apr. in W. S. Chalmers Life & Lett. David, Earl Beatty (1951) ii. 33, I with the Rocket tube first occupied a position on the left of the Artillery. 1932Flight XXIV. 1023/1 The rocket tube or rocket motor, as it is called in Germany..is filled with powder of special composition.
▸ rocket science n. the science of designing rockets; (hence humorously) something requiring a high level of intelligence or expertise (freq. in negative constructions, implying that something is relatively simple).
1931Illustr. Weekly of India 15 Nov. 11/1 (caption) Martyr to *rocket science. Max Valier, the famous rocket-experimenter..met his death by an explosion of one of his rocket devices. 1986Chicago Tribune (Nexis) 24 Oct. 79 Nesmith says, half jokingly, that ‘the tape manufacturing will be somewhere close to rocket science’ to cut costs. 2001Start & run your Business Dec. 23/2 With no strict qualifications needed to enter the wine trade Davis explains that managing a wine bar isn't rocket science.
▪ IV. † ˈrocket, n.4 Obs.
Also 5 roket, 5–6 -ette.
[a. OF. roquet, northern form of rochet, = It. rocchetto: see ratchet n.]
1. A bobbin. = rochet3. rare—0.
c1440Promp. Parv. 436/1 Roket, of the rokke (P. roket of spynnynge), librum, pensum. 1611Florio, Rocchello, a rocket or bobbin to winde silke vpon.
2. A blunt-headed lance.
1525Ld. Berners Froiss. II. clxii. [clviii.] 448 All maner of knyghtes and squyers..that wyll come thyder for the breakynge of fyue speares, outher sharpe or rokettes at their pleasure. Ibid. clxxiii. [clxix.] 511 Suche as wolde iust with rokettes.
▪ V. † ˈrocket, n.5 Obs. rare.
In 6 rokket, pl. rokettes.
[f. rock n.1 + -et1, or a. OF. roquette (Picard rokette).]
A small rock.
1538Leland Itin. (1769) VII. 115 In the Mouth of the Ryver..ys the Rokket Godryve wheryn bredeth Se Fowle. Ibid. 116 Ther be of the Isles of Scylley cxlvii. that bere Gresse (besyde blynd Rokettes).
▪ VI. † rocket, n.6
var. of, or error for, rochet n.2
a1655Sir T. T. de Mayerne Archimag. Anglo-Gall. No. 40 (1658) 35 To make a sauce for fryed Gurnet or Rocket.
▪ VII. rocket, v.|ˈrɒkɪt|
[f. rocket n.3]
1. a. trans. To discharge rockets at; to bombard with rockets.
1803Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1835) II. 467 They continued to rocket us till dark. 1810Ibid. (1836) VI. 624 You must..rocket Santarem if you believe that the boats and materials are still there. 1967[see napalm v.]. 1973Houston (Texas) Chron. 21 Oct. 1/1 The 22-year-old officer, whose tank had been rocketed, said the Egyptian soldiers..threw what they apparently thought was his body out of the ditch. 1978Guardian Weekly 12 Feb. 6/1 Six vessels..are rocketing besieging guerrilla forces around the port of Massawa.
b. To propel (someone) at speed, as by a rocket; to send by rocket. Also fig.
1837J. Cottle Killcrop in Early Recoll. II. 316 From yon tall rock I'll hurl him to perdition... I'll rocket him. 1958Listener 16 Oct. 603/2 Probably he [sc. an astronaut] will come down in a large sphere..because the retardation he will experience in this way will expose him to no worse strains than those he suffers in any case as he is rocketed upwards. 1959Times 11 June 3/6 A boundary rocketed his score to a dozen. 1966I. Asimov Fantastic Voyage i. 10 We would pile him into an X-52 and rocket him through inner space.
c. To reprimand severely. Cf. rocket n.3 1 f. slang (orig. Mil.).
1948Partridge Dict. Forces' Slang 156 He rocketed me like hell. 1971J. Wainwright Dig Grave 96 The assistant chief constable was still rocketing Sergeant Sykes.
2. intr.
a. Of a horse (or rider). To spring or bound up like a rocket; to dart like a rocket.
1883E. Pennell-Elmhirst Cream Leicestersh. 296 [His] small mare rockets over without touching a twig. 1891Kipling Light that Failed xiii. (1900) 224 If you'd seen me rocketing about on a half-trained French troop-horse under a blazing sun you'd have laughed. 1898Hewlett Forest Lovers xxv, The man swerved at the onset; Prosper rocketed into him; horse and man went over in a heap.
b. Of game-birds: To fly up almost vertically when flushed; to fly fast and high overhead.
1860Russell Diary India II. 169 Nothing was shot, though some pheasants ‘rocketed’ over our guns. 1879Jefferies Amateur Poacher ii. (1889) 24 Up rose a large bird out of the water with a bustling of wings and splashing, compelled to ‘rocket’ by the thick bushes and willow poles.
c. In general use: to move like a rocket, to speed; (of prices, etc.) to increase substantially, to soar. Also const. with advbs.
1881Baily's Mag. Oct. 37 He played too forward and a little too quick to a very quick, straight ball, and she ‘rocketted’ between the wickets. 1924W. J. Locke Coming of Amos xxiv. 312 A flash of lightning rocketed across the black gap of the open window. 1924H. G. Wells Exper. Autobiogr. I. v. 219 The more brilliant investigators rocket off into mathematical pyrotechnics and return to common speech with statements that are..nonsensical. 1937J. Betjeman Coll. Poems (1958) 44 The heart of Thomas Hardy flew out of Stinsford churchyard... It rocketed over the elm trees. 1947Evening News 5 Nov. 1/5 A hectic day's trading..sent the shares rocketing on Monday from 13s. 3d. to 23s. 9d. 1952Dylan Thomas Coll. Poems 132 Up through the lubber crust of Wales I rocketed to astonish The flashing needle rock of squatters. 1957Economist 2 Nov. 375 Manufacturer's exports rocket 23 times in 7 years! 1972D. Haston In High Places ii. 29 The rope rocketed out. This was really high-quality ice climbing in action. 1976Times 17 Mar. 2/8 Mr Benn rocketed to prominence as a potential future party leader..in the early 1970s. 1979Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVII. 431/2 It goes along relatively steadily till 1972, then rockets up and comes back down and has just rocketed up again. |