ramjet
noun
ram·jet
| \ ˈram-ˌjet
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Definition of ramjet
: a jet engine that consists essentially of a hollow tube without mechanical components and depends on the aircraft's speed of flight to compress the air which is supplied to a burner from which hot gases are discharged rearward
Examples of ramjet in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Here’s why: This kind of projectile uses what’s known as a ramjet engine. — Alex Ward, Vox, "What caused Russia’s radioactive explosion last week? Possibly a nuclear-powered missile.," 13 Aug. 2019 On February 1950, while testing an experimental ramjet, the airplane received substantial damage after sliding off the runway during landing. — Chris Clarke, Popular Mechanics, "Super-Rare XP-82 Twin Mustang Flies Again After Decade-Long Restoration," 4 Jan. 2019 Powered by a ramjet, the round uses the surrounding air as fuel, reducing the need for fuel on board the shell itself. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "The Army’s New Howitzer Barrel is Ridiculously Long," 17 Oct. 2018 These are propelled by underwater ramjets rather than propellers and travel inside a bubble of gas to reduce friction, achieving speeds in excess of 200 mph. — David Hambling, Popular Mechanics, "The Truth Behind Russia’s 'Apocalypse Torpedo'," 18 Jan. 2019 In addition to the ERCA upgrades, the Army could end up fielding the new Nammo ramjet artillery shell. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "The Army’s New Howitzer Barrel is Ridiculously Long," 17 Oct. 2018 The Meteor missile that The Economist mentions is actually operational, while Chinese ramjet air-to-air missile development is still experiencing problems. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "Will China’s Airpower Soon Rival the West?," 16 Feb. 2018 But hypersonic vehicles generally reach their tremendous speeds using supersonic combustion ramjet engines, or scramjets, whichs compress and combust air flowing in at supersonic speeds. — Mike Wall, Space.com, "US Air Force Zooms Ahead on 2 New Hypersonic Weapons Plans," 20 Aug. 2018 For this plane, the two engines would share the same air inlets, and the jet engines would operate up to Mach 2 or 3 before the inlets seal off the jet engine and divert air into the ramjets, which can handle faster airflow. — Eric Adams, WIRED, "Boeing’s Proposed Hypersonic Plane Is Really, Really Fast," 28 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ramjet.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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