drogue parachute
- noun
- /ˈdroʊɡ pəˌræʃut/
- Specialized
:
paracaídas de arrastre
- When the spacecraft began its descent, the drogue parachute deployed to help slow it down before the main parachute opened.
Examples
-
-Roger, deploying drogue parachute.
-
Near the mechanical release by which the drogue parachute would have been deployed, someone had neatly fitted a rock.
Academic text (2006) -
At 25,000 feet, just as the needle passed the black triangle on the gauge, the drogue parachutes opened with a soft jolt.
Fiction book (1996) -
The small drogue parachute was crucial in stabilizing the fast-moving object during its descent.
-
To ensure a safe landing, engineers designed a drogue parachute that would activate at high speeds.
Synonyms
119
2.0
A large piece of strong cloth that fills with air and slows a person's fall
1
9.9
A small parachute that slows or stabilizes a fast vehicle like a plane
1
8.2
A small parachute that slows something moving very fast, for example a plane or race car
A device like a small parachute or flap that slows an aircraft while flying
How Effective
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'drogue' (a small stabilizing parachute) combined with 'parachute' yields a small parachute used to slow or stabilize descent or assist deployment. This noun–noun compound follows regular English formation and, despite being technical, would be predictable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent meanings.
Etymology
The noun drogue parachute comes from the image of a small drogue, a tiny parachute thrown out first to pull the big one open or to slow a fast moving object. So, it now means 'a small parachute used to slow something down or to help deploy the main parachute'.