reentry

noun

re·​en·​try (ˌ)rē-ˈen-trē 

1

: a retaking possession

especially : entry by a lessor on leased premises on the tenant's failure to perform the conditions of the lease

2

: a second or new entry

3

: a playing card that will enable a player to regain the lead

4

: the action of reentering the earth's atmosphere after travel in space

Examples of reentry in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Join 13 others in the comments View Comments Though defunct objects in space routinely fall out of orbit, most pieces of debris disintegrate entirely during the reentry process. —Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 9 May 2025

The trunk of a SpaceX Dragon capsule also recently survived atmospheric reentry, and crashed in the mountains of North Carolina. —Josh Dinner, Space.com, 8 May 2025

Such uncontrolled reentry events are relatively common and rarely merit much notice. —Lee Billings, Scientific American, 7 May 2025

The Aerospace Corporation tracks space debris reentries and currently predicts the dead Soviet relic will cross the Karman line marking the start of Earth’s atmosphere 62 miles above us at 11:37 p.m. —Eric MacK, Forbes.com, 7 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for reentry

• wintry

Kids Definition

reentry

noun

re·​en·​try (ˈ)rē-ˈen-trē 

1

: a second or new entry

2

: the action of reentering the earth's atmosphere after travel in space

Medical Definition

reentry

noun

re·​en·​try (ˈ)rē-ˈen-trē 

plural reentries

: a cardiac mechanism that is held to explain certain abnormal heart actions (as tachycardia) and that involves the transmission of a wave of depolarization along an alternate pathway when the original pathway is blocked with return of the impulse along the blocked pathway when the alternate pathway is refractory and then transmission along the open pathway resulting in an abnormality

Legal Definition

reentry

noun

re·​en·​try ˌrē-ˈen-trē 

: a retaking possession of property by a lessor or grantor in exercise of the right to do so upon the failure of the lessee or grantee to fulfill a covenant or condition see also power of termination at power sense 2b