noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Deceleration of a falling object due to impact with the ground. humorous, uncountable

   "Beagle 2 has successfully completed its critical lithobraking maneuver, marking another step for robotkind."

Verb

1. 1
   present participle and gerund of lithobrake form-of, gerund, participle, present

Example

More examples

"Beagle 2 has successfully completed its critical lithobraking maneuver, marking another step for robotkind."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From litho- (“pertaining to stone”) + braking, by analogy to aerobraking. First attested in c. 1999

Etymology 2

From lithobrake + -ing.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.