rocket mann.
/ˈrɒkɪt man/, U.S. /ˈrɑkət ˌmæn/ 1. A man (usually a soldier) responsible for firing rockets. Now chiefly historical.Originally in British India.
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society > armed hostility > warrior > armed man > [noun] > one armed with or using firearm > firer of rockets
rocket man1763
rocketeer1814
1763 Maj. Adams Let. 5 Oct. in Universal Mag. (1764) Apr. 220/2 8000 Seapoys, 20,000 horse, and 20 piece of cannon, besides match-lock and rocket-men, composed their army, according to the best accounts I could get.
1764 London Mag. May 236/2 8000 Seapoys, 20000 horse, and 20 pieces of cannon, besides matchlock and rocket-men, composed their army.
1795 F. Gladwin tr. Kowayid Us Sultanet Shahjehan in Persian Moonshee ii. 69 Rocket-men..carrying flags and banners of Dáriey silk, stamped with gold.
1821 G. 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.
1857 C. Reade Jack of All Trades in Harper's New Monthly Mag. Dec. 113/1 When I had made and let off fire-works for a few months, I thought I could make more as a rocket master than a Rocket man... So,..I got the materials and made a set of fireworks myself.
1886 York Herald 17 Dec. 6/2 The promptitude displayed by coastguard, rocket men, and lifeboat crew was worthy of the greatest commendation.
1927 Scotsman 21 Oct. 7/1 Mr Patterson..retired as rocket-man of the Berwick L.S.A. Brigade a few months ago.
1951 Life 18 June 54/3 (caption) Using six rocket launchers with 24 tubes each, the platoon in a matter of seconds blasted Red positions with 144 rounds—a barrage which rocketmen call a ‘ripple’.
2003 R. Narasimha in R. Narasimha et al. Dynamics of Technol. iii. 121 A large mango grove..gave shelter to Tipu Sultan's rocketmen.
2. colloquial.
a. A person who designs or builds rockets; an expert in rocket science.
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society > travel > air or space travel > use or science of rockets > [noun] > expert in or enthusiast for
rocket man1926
rocketeer1928
1926 A. A. Milne Cherry Stones in Harper’s Mag Oct. 645 What about a Conjurer with rabbits in his pockets? What about a Rocket Man who's always making rockets?
1938 Sci. Amer. May 271 (caption) Professor Robert H. Goddard, ‘Number One Rocket Man’, in the well-equipped shop three miles from Roswell, New Mexico, where his rockets are prepared.
1956 Pop. Sci. Jan. 128/1 This is something about which there will be no doubt once the rocket men know the power and performance of the rocket-launching system to be used.
2009 Sun (Nexis) 13 Apr. 20 The rocket man laughed: ‘This could be the start of the Irish space agency.’
b. Chiefly Science Fiction. A person who pilots a rocket, esp. into space.
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society > travel > air or space travel > people who fly in aircraft or spacecraft > [noun] > astronaut or traveller in space
space flyer1911
astronaut1928
rocket man1931
spaceman1932
spacefarer1936
cosmonaut1959
man-in-space1959
taikonaut1998
1931 Salt Lake Tribune 10 Aug. 6/6 Mars, Venus and Jupiter had been visited by Rocket men... Amazing things were learned by Rocket men who went to Venus.
1938 M. W. Wellman in Astounding Sci.-Fiction June 8/1 In ship No. Fifty-one, half-way from Moon to Mars, four stubbled faces turned to a common, grinning regard as the pounding roar of the rockets died away at last. The skipper, the rocketman, the navigator, the spacehand.
1950 R. Bradbury Martian Chron. (1951) 36 The rocket men looked out and saw this.
1964 Galaxy Mag. Oct. 181/1 I was a Rocketman 3/c on the Moon, guarding the Aristarchus base against invaders from outer space.
2002 List (Glasgow & Edinb. Events Guide) 4 July 38/1 There's a visually pleasing retro-look to this utopian future (all sky cars and rocket men).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1763