Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

suicide burn

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.27 in modern English

Syllables: sui-cide burn
IPA

16

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

2

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A method of soft-landing a rocket with a well-timed, high-thrust engine burn starting at the last possible second, such that it reaches a vertical speed of zero at precisely or almost precisely at the exact moment that it touches the landing pad and the engine shuts down.

noun

An instance of such a landing.

noun

A rocket firing during such a landing.

Example Sentences

"A suicide burn is a more efficient method of landing than slowly decelerating over the length of a long descent, as a smaller proportion of the engine's thrust is spent fighting against gravity."

Etymology

From being an engine burn whose failure results in destruction, thus seemingly requiring "suicidal" confidence or courage to attempt.

Inflected Forms

suicide burns (plural)

Synonyms

hoverslam

Questions

What does suicide burn mean?: A method of soft-landing a rocket with a well-timed, high-thrust engine burn starting at the last possible second, such that it reaches a vertical speed of zero at precisely or almost precisely at the exact moment that it touches the landing pad and the engine shuts down.
Where does suicide burn come from?: From being an engine burn whose failure results in destruction, thus seemingly requiring "suicidal" confidence or courage to attempt.

How to pronounce suicide burn

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