downrangeadj.adv.
/ˈdaʊnˌreɪn(d)ʒ/, /daʊnˈreɪn(d)ʒ/, U.S. /ˌdaʊnˈreɪndʒ/, /ˈdaʊnˌreɪndʒ/ Chiefly U.S.
A. adj.
1. That is situated near or at the targets in a firing range; (of a wind) blowing in the direction of a target. Somewhat rare.
ΚΠ
1866 Match Shooting Enfield Rifle 70 In these variable up and down range winds, blowing very moderately, I believe the best course is to aim dead on the bull's eye, and be content to make all hits.
1965 Simulator, Weapon, Firing & Ranging (Laser) Syst. (Techn. Rep. NAVTRADECEN Y.1311-1) iv. 24 This section contains the procedures recommended for installing the Laser Weapon Simulator system in the tank, and installing the target in the downrange area.
2014 R. Danielowski & M. Smock Rifle Techniques (ed. 2) ix. 91 You should stay facing in the position you started, keeping your muzzle oriented into the safe down range area.
2.
a. Designating a monitoring station or observation point located beneath the projected course of a missile, space rocket, etc.
ΚΠ
1949 Lebanon (Pa.) Daily News 3 June 16/4 Two down-range stations are to be built in the Bahama Islands.
1981 Proc. Internat. Symp. Spacecraft Flight Dynamics (European Space Agency) 153/1 Downrange stations at Chichijima Island in Ogasawara and Christmas Islands are installed for the purpose of confirming the trajectory and ensuring the flight safety of launch vehicles.
2006 R. W. Orloff & D. M. Harland Apollo 75 A break in a submarine cable to one of the downrange stations caused a 24-hour delay.
b. That is or occurs along the course of a missile, space rocket, etc.
ΚΠ
1960 C. W. Sarture Guidance Syst. for Rocket Vehicles (Space Technol. Lab. Inc.) (typescript) 8 in www.dtic.mil A downrange miss of this size would make the system unacceptable for most applications.
1979 IEEE Trans. Automatic Control 24 720/1 (abstract) A multiple time scale analysis results in nonlinear feedback control solutions for lift and thrust during a turn to a specified down range position.
1995 Jrnl. Geophysical Res. 100 17,267/2 The downrange location of the payload was 223 km to the north and 13 km to the east.
2008 Jrnl. Spacecraft & Rockets Mar.–Apr. 311/2 The baseline Apollo algorithm consists of seven phases designed to control the downrange position of the vehicle.
B. adv.
1.
a. Along the course of a firing range, at or towards the targets; (during a firefight) in the direction of the enemy.
ΚΠ
1914 Arms & Man 27 Aug. 423/1 Down range the target dipped and above the line of pits a white disk signalled a ‘bull's-eye’.
1968 Pacific Stars & Stripes 20 Dec. 23/4 Two thousand bullets chase each other down range.
2014 C. Martin Mod. Amer. Snipers vii. 111 Place again cut down the enemy, delivering lethally accurate rounds downrange during a pitched April 7 firefight.
b. Military. In or to an area of operations.
ΚΠ
1995 A. Cockrell Tail of Storm vi. 90 Bert had somehow wrangled a trip downrange at a time when only select media people..were being allowed in.
2006 T. C. Waynick et al. in T. W. Britt et al. Mil. Life II. 186 This may include counselling soldiers who have just arrived and are being sent downrange to take a wounded soldier's place.
2013 G. Krotow Navy Orders xiv. 158 I was downrange, living in a base camp for almost a year.
2. In or at a point on the path along the earth's surface beneath the projected course of a missile, space rocket, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > position or situation > [adverb] > in a position along the course of a missile
downrange1953
1953 Monsanto Mag. July 3 They seized upon the light house as a reference point. From it they worked ‘down range’ to establish a series of stations from which to observe the flight of missiles.
1988 Acta Astronautica 18 219/2 The hydrological features downrange are quite favorable.
2007 J. Longuski Seven Secrets of how to think like Rocket Scientist xxxv. 106 The faster you go, the father down range you will travel, always hitting the ground at the same time.
Compounds
downrange distance n. the distance along the earth's surface travelled by a missile, space rocket, etc., at a given point in time.
ΚΠ
1957 W. H. Allan & E. L. Dunn in Proc. Aerodynam. Range Symp. 98 Figure 24 illustrates the yawing and swerving motions of a finned missile plotted against downrange distance.
1986 New Scientist 6 Feb. 63/2 Velocity 2900 feet per second, altitude 9 nautical miles, down range distance 7 nautical miles.
2009 D. J. Shayler Space Rescue 173 After reaching a peak altitude of 11,094 m a downrange distance of 4,267 m was simulated.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.adv.1866