: a protective cone constituting the forward end of an aerospace vehicle
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebOnce the rocket is balanced correctly, water sprays from the rocket nose cone. Kathleen Willcox, Popular Mechanics, 20 July 2022 The company's workhorse Falcon 9 is a two stage medium-lift rocket with a reusable first stage and nose cone fairing that has flown 157 times since its maiden flight in 2010, and 23 times this year alone. William Harwood, CBS News, 13 June 2022 The red nose cone on Stefan Wilson’s car quickly gives way to a matte black hood. Wilson Moore, The Indianapolis Star, 25 May 2022 Its nose cone flipped up so that big objects, like turbine blades or even smaller jets, could be slid into its cavernous belly.New York Times, 22 Apr. 2022 Too big to fit inside the nose cone of any existing rocket, the mirror was built in 18 segments that had to fold together like the petals of an origami flower. Aylin Woodward, WSJ, 16 Mar. 2022 Similar photos were released after the last missile test, on Jan. 30, which featured a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile with a camera fitted in its nose cone.NBC News, 28 Feb. 2022 The next time the nose cone opens, Webb will lurch itself toward its destination 1 million miles from Earth and begin the most complicated robotic deployment in the history of space exploration, unfolding itself piece by piece. Marina Koren, The Atlantic, 23 Dec. 2021 The kit's modifications include plenty of front-end work, from the front lip spoiler to the new nose cone. Sebastian Blanco, Car and Driver, 29 Dec. 2021 See More
Word History
First Known Use
1949, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
nose cone
noun
: a protective cone forming the forward end of an airplane, rocket, or missile