trajectory
noun
tra·jec·to·ry
| \ trə-ˈjek-t(ə-)rē
\
\
plural trajectories
Definition of trajectory
1
: the curve that a body (such as a planet or comet in its orbit or a rocket) describes in space
2
: a path, progression, or line of development resembling a physical trajectory
an upward career trajectory
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Examples of trajectory in a Sentence
the trajectory of the missile
Recent Examples on the Web
These stories show how researchers and people at risk are working to reshape trajectories from hopelessness to hope, one life at a time. — Jennifer Couzin-frankel, Science | AAAS, "My younger sister died by suicide. Can science succeed in helping others?," 20 Aug. 2019 No artwork could bear as protracted, or as intimate, a portrait of its maker’s mortal trajectory through the world as his shoes. — Will Heinrich, New York Times, "Summer Art Trek: Gallery Hopping in the Hudson Valley," 8 Aug. 2019 Through the years, Yokoi's legacy has faded, but his trajectory from maintenance worker to the designer of the Game Boy should not go overlooked. — Lisa Marie Segarra, Fortune, "As Game Boy Turns 30, It’s Time to Recognize Its Inventor, Nintendo’s Maintenance Man," 1 Aug. 2019 Other factors of the design represent the Earth, the moon and our trajectory from the moon to Mars. — Ashley Strickland, CNN, "NASA details Artemis moon missions, named after Apollo's twin sister," 24 July 2019 Sanders’s ideology is the product of the winding circumstances of his long career, tracing an unlikely trajectory from radical New England gadfly to U.S. senator. — Matthew Zeitlin, The New Republic, "Bernie’s Red Vermont," 13 June 2019 Featuring some 50 works from North American and European collections, the exhibition traces the Flemish artist’s trajectory from young man on the loose to favorite painter of European royalty. — J.s. Marcus, WSJ, "The Rubens Phenomenon," 29 Mar. 2019 Throughout the spacecraft's descent, two little CubeSats followed its trajectory from orbit and transmitted data for most of the journey. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "NASA does it again by landing safely on Mars—something no one else has done," 26 Nov. 2018 Or takes a piece, yeah. What happens to that company’s trajectory? — Eric Johnson, Recode, "How Netflix outsmarted everyone else in TV," 23 Aug. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'trajectory.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for trajectory
trajectory
noun
English Language Learners Definition of trajectory
: the curved path along which something (such as a rocket) moves through the air or through space
See the full definition for trajectory in the English Language Learners Dictionary
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