launch pad
9
3.5
- noun
- /lɔːnʧ pæd/
- Specialized
:
plataforma de lanzamiento
- The rocket erupts from the launch pad and goes sailing into the sky.
- launch pad and shuttle
- miles from the launch pad
Examples
-
The Shuttle Discovery is on the launch pad being prepared for launch.
-
The rocket is fired into space from a launch pad.
Academic text (1997) -
We got out there to the launch pad.
-
Oh, Lord, I do hope we make it to the launch pad on time.
-
I had selected a site on the front part of the raised rock area facing the launch pad.
Academic text (1994) -
The rocket erupts from the launch pad and goes sailing into the sky.
Fiction book (1999) -
On the launch pad, it was taller than a thirty-story building.
Fiction book (2002) -
The spacecraft leaped off the launch pad in a cloud of smoke and gritty dust that evaporated almost as soon as it formed.
Fiction book (2001) -
A cameraman walked across the launch pad toward the rocket, which stood pointing skyward like a talisman.
Fiction book (2002) -
The shuttle sits on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at this hour.
Synonyms
107
7.2
A platform where rockets are launched into space
9
4.8
A place like an airport where rockets and spacecraft take off, land, and get fixed
4
4.4
A strong platform that rockets or spacecraft use to start their flight
4
4.8
A platform where rockets begin their flight into space
1
9.9
A place where rockets and spacecraft are launched into space
1
4.0
A place where rockets or spaceships start their flight
1
5.4
A place with machines to send rockets or satellites into space
How Complex
9
4.8
- Specialized
1
5.4
- Specialized
1
4.0
- Specialized
9
3.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a place or situation that serves as a starting point' is directly and compositionally built from 'launch' (to initiate or set in motion) + 'pad' (a platform), so a learner who knows both words can infer the literal sense. The extended, metaphorical use for careers or projects is a straightforward extension of the literal platform-for-launch concept and is cross-linguistically common, making the expression immediately comprehensible to B1 learners.
Etymology
Launch pad is the flat platform where a rocket stands before lift-off, with the rocket ready to launch from the pad into space. So it refers to the place a spacecraft leaves the ground 'to launch' into space.