Earth-grazing
adj ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Of a meteoroid, entering the Earth's atmosphere and leaving into space again. not-comparable
"A computer program especially suited to the simulation of Earth-grazing meteors has been listed and described in the Astronomical Computing department of Sky & Telescope. The program allows for the curvature of the Earth; it is therefore possible to follow an Earth-grazing meteor as it descends, reaches perigee, and then ascends back into space."
- 2 Approaching the Earth closely. not-comparable
"How many [orbital periods] are there in a year for an Earth-grazing satellite? Since the time of Sputnik (October 4, 1957), it has been familiar that a satellite in a low orbit revolves about the Earth in about 90 minutes. That period would be 84 minutes for the hypothetical Earth-grazing satellite."
Example
More examples"A computer program especially suited to the simulation of Earth-grazing meteors has been listed and described in the Astronomical Computing department of Sky & Telescope. The program allows for the curvature of the Earth; it is therefore possible to follow an Earth-grazing meteor as it descends, reaches perigee, and then ascends back into space."
Etymology
From Earth + grazing.
More for "earth-grazing"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.