Meaning & use
rocket
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A vehicle or machine that is pushed forward by burning fuel shooting out behind it, used to launch spacecraft or weapons.
Grammar: Countable: a rocket, two rockets. It can also be used before another noun: a rocket engine.
Patterns
- launch a rocket
- a rocket launches
- a rocket engine
The rocket lifted off from the launch pad at dawn.
Engineers tested the rocket before the mission to Mars.
A rocket can reach space in just a few minutes.
nouncountable
A firework that shoots high into the air and explodes with a loud noise and bright colors.
Grammar: Countable and often plural in this sense: set off rockets.
Patterns
- set off a rocket
- fireworks and rockets
Children watched the rockets light up the night sky.
They set off rockets to celebrate the new year.
noununcountableBritish
A leafy green vegetable with a strong peppery taste, eaten raw in salads.
Grammar: Uncountable: some rocket, not a rocket. In American English this vegetable is usually called arugula.
Patterns
- rocket salad
- a handful of rocket
Add a handful of rocket to the salad for a peppery kick.
The pizza was topped with rocket and parmesan.
verbintransitive
To increase or move very quickly and suddenly.
Grammar: No object; it often describes prices, sales, or someone's career: Prices rocketed.
Patterns
- prices rocket
- rocket to something
- rocket upward
House prices have rocketed in the last two years.
Her book rocketed to the top of the bestseller list.
Demand for the new phone rocketed after the launch.
Word forms
| plural | rockets |
|---|---|
| third person singular | rockets |
| past tense | rocketed |
| past participle | rocketed |
| -ing form | rocketing |
Common combinations
- rocket science
- It's not rocket science; anyone can learn to do it.
- rocket launch
- The rocket launch was delayed by bad weather.
- prices rocket
- Food prices rocketed after the poor harvest.
- rocket to fame
- The band rocketed to fame with its first single.
- a rocket scientist
- She works as a rocket scientist for a space agency.
Synonyms and how they differ
- missile
- A missile is a weapon that flies to a target, often guided; a rocket is the vehicle or engine itself and can also carry people or satellites.
- firework
- A firework is any exploding display device; a rocket is one type that shoots upward on a stick.
- soar
- Soar means to rise high smoothly, often like a bird; rocket suggests a much faster, more sudden rise.
Opposites
Word family
- rocketry noun
- The science or activity of building and flying rockets.
- rocketeer noun
- A person who builds or launches rockets.
Commonly confused: rocket or arugula?
rocket vs arugula
Arugula is the usual American name for the peppery salad leaf that British English calls rocket.
Practice
Prices ______ after the new tax was announced.
Choose one answer.
The simple past 'rocketed' fits because the sentence describes a completed rise in the past. 'Rocket' is the base form and needs a past-time marker, 'rocketing' needs an auxiliary like 'were', and 'rocketed up to' needs a specific figure after 'to'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “rocket”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.