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to rocket

to rocket

12 4.2
To send something quickly up using a powerful engine
  • verb
  • /ˈrɑːkɪt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : lanzar
  • Another explosion hits the flagpole, rocketing the Fort's flag into the courtyard.
  • rocket into space
  • rocket into orbit
  • rocket astronauts into orbit

Someone said you don't jet to space, you rocket to space and you can off to space.

Examples

  • And you can see it's rocketing around in the cell.

  • Charly watches the two vehicles rocketing away down the street.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • I'll come, if you rocket there right away.

  • We see it is joined by fourteen other missiles, all rocketing towards their target.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • The capsule blows through the top of the museum, rocketing towards the starry night sky above.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Suddenly, State Police cruisers rocket up the road with sirens and lights. Red (V.O.)

    Fiction book (1994)
  • And so Voyager II is now a part of history... rocketing into space from its launch pad here at Cape Kennedy... on this historic date, August 20, 1977.

  • Cutter rides the HARLEY, rocketing cross-country in the direction of the fairgrounds.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • The spacecraft rocketed into orbit after a successful launch.

  • The athlete rocketed down the track, breaking the previous record.

Synonyms

to launch
vsto rocket
3.4

To make something move, for example a boat or rocket

is narrower, meaning upward propulsion by a high‑power engine rather than general sending
to take off
vsto rocket
478 1.9

To leave the ground and begin to fly

is about rapid upward propulsion by a powerful engine, not ordinary flight start
to lift off
vsto rocket
20 3.9

To rise into the air from the ground like a plane or rocket

is specifically about propulsion by high‑power engines for swift upward motion
to blast off
vsto rocket
10 4.1

To send a rocket up into the sky or space

is about strong engine thrust sending something upward rather than ordinary lift
to launch a satellite
vsto rocket
1 3.9

Send a man-made satellite into space using a rocket

focuses on using a powerful engine to propel upward very quickly

Antonyms

1.0

To come down and rest on a surface

Phrasal Verbs

2 4.4

Increase very quickly to a much higher level

Compounds

rocket launcher
  • Specialized
16 4.8

A weapon that fires rockets used by soldiers to destroy targets

rocket science
  • Informal
13 4.6

A thing that is very difficult to understand

rocket-propelled
  • Specialized
12 5.5

Moved by a rocket engine

rocket scientist
  • Informal
9 4.3

A person who is very clever at solving difficult problems

rocket fuel
  • Specialized
9 3.9

A substance you burn to move a rocket into space

rocket engine
  • Specialized
5 3.6

A machine that makes a push by throwing out its own fuel very fast for spaceships or missiles

rocket scientist
  • Specialized
5 4.4

An engineer who designs, builds and tests rockets and spacecraft

rocket firing
  • Specialized
2 4.5

An event when a rocket moves into the sky using its engines

booster rocket
  • Specialized
1 5.3

A large engine that gives a spacecraft its first push and falls off when empty

rocket launching
  • Specialized
1 3.7

Sending a rocket into the sky using its own engines

rocket propellant
  • Specialized
1 6.1

A material that burns or reacts to make a rocket move

space rocket
  • Specialized
1 4.0

A large machine that carries people or things from Earth into space

1 8.9

A fast, light motorcycle made for speed and quick turns

nuclear rocket
  • Specialized
1 6.9

An engine that uses heat from splitting atoms to push a spaceship into space

rice rocket
  • Offensive
1 9.8

A small fast car often made faster with extra parts

1 4.8

A military place where people keep, fix, and send rockets into the sky

rocket propulsion
  • Specialized
1 5.4

A way to move a vehicle by pushing out gas very fast so it works in space

rocket engineer
  • Specialized
1 4.8

A person who designs, builds, and tests rockets

1 8.9

A tall garden plant with strong sweet-smelling purple or white flowers that smell at night

9.9

A plant people grow to dye cloth yellow

anti-submarine rocket
  • Specialized
7.3

A rocket launched from a ship to attack submarines

multistage rocket
  • Specialized
6.6

A space vehicle with two or more parts that fire and drop as fuel runs out

4.7

A leafy plant with a strong peppery taste often used in salads

research rocket
  • Specialized
5.2

A rocket launched to do science experiments in space

rocket range
  • Specialized
4.9

A place where people test or launch rockets under safety rules

9.9

A wild weed with small yellow flowers and spicy leaves

rocket larkspur
  • Specialized
8.8

A tall garden plant with long spikes of blue, purple, or pink flowers

3.0

A leafy green with a slightly spicy taste often eaten raw in salads

8.5

A joking name for a person who is very skilled

A wild plant with bright yellow flowers that grows on plains

A low plant with thick grey-green leaves and pink or purple flowers that grows by the sea

takeoff rocket
  • Specialized
6.7

A powerful first part of a space vehicle that lifts it off the ground

A plant that lives for several years with small yellow flowers and hairy leaves that grows in mountain areas

test rocket
  • Specialized
5.0

A rocket launched to check how well it works

solid-fuel rocket
  • Specialized
5.3

An engine that burns solid fuel to push a vehicle into the sky

5.7

A rocket that uses solid fuel to make hot gas and push it forward

sounding rocket
  • Specialized
7.5

A small rocket that carries scientific instruments high into the atmosphere to collect data

step rocket
  • Specialized
7.8

A rocket with two or more parts that fire one after another and drop away when empty to reach space

9.9

A plant with yellow flowers that grows on old walls and in empty places

9.9

A wild plant in the cabbage family with white flowers and deeply cut leaves

8.8

A weed with yellow flowers that often grows in fields and along roads

How Fast

to skyrocket
52 4.1
to rocket
  • Specialized
12 4.2
launch
589 4.0
to lift
553 1.0

Surface Forms

rocket infinitive
rocketed past
rocketed past participle
rocketing present participle
rockets third person singular

Etymology

The verb rocket comes from the noun for a fast, flying tube; to rocket something is to send it up quickly like a flying rocket. This connection to the fast, upward movement is why we use the verb this way.