: a vertical takeoff by an aircraft or a rocket vehicle or missile
Examples of liftoff in a Sentence
a series of successful liftoffs
Thousand of spectators gathered to watch the liftoff of the space shuttle.
Recent Examples on the Web
The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket returned to Earth just over 8 minutes after liftoff to land on the SpaceX drone ship A Shortfall Of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean.
—
Tariq Malik, Space.com, 29 Dec. 2024
The May 6 attempt was scrubbed two hours before liftoff because of valve on ULA’s upper Centaur stage that teams continue to investigate.
—Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel, 29 Dec. 2024
Another experiment that the Polaris Dawn crew underwent to understand in-space ailments involved a series of MRI scans just before liftoff and immediately after returning to Earth.
—Jackie Wattles, CNN, 25 Oct. 2024
The Starlink 6-76 mission is scheduled for liftoff tonight from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 10:35 p.m. EST (0335 UTC, November 26), following a day already filled with Falcon 9 rocket milestones.
—Tom Rogers, Newsweek, 25 Nov. 2024
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Tariq Malik, Space.com, 29 Dec. 2024
The May 6 attempt was scrubbed two hours before liftoff because of valve on ULA’s upper Centaur stage that teams continue to investigate.
—Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel, 29 Dec. 2024
Another experiment that the Polaris Dawn crew underwent to understand in-space ailments involved a series of MRI scans just before liftoff and immediately after returning to Earth.
—Jackie Wattles, CNN, 25 Oct. 2024
The Starlink 6-76 mission is scheduled for liftoff tonight from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 10:35 p.m. EST (0335 UTC, November 26), following a day already filled with Falcon 9 rocket milestones.
—Tom Rogers, Newsweek, 25 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for liftoff
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Cite this Entry
“Liftoff.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/liftoff. Accessed 2 Jan. 2025.
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liftoff
noun
lift·off
ˈlif-ˌtȯf 
: a vertical takeoff (as by a rocket)
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