a hard natural material made of minerals that forms mountains and the ground, or a large piece of this material
The hikers sat on a rock to tie their shoelaces.
Plants can grow even in cracks of solid rock.
✦ Old English ‘rocc’, from Latin ‘rocca’, meaning rock or stone.
a style of loud, energetic popular music that uses electric guitars, bass, and drums
My dad loves listening to classic rock from the 1970s.
The school band is learning a simple rock song for the talent show.
✦ Short for “rock and roll,” first popularized in the United States in the 1950s.
to move someone or something gently backward and forward or from side to side
Please rock the chair slowly so it doesn’t squeak.
The mother rocked the baby to sleep.
✦ From Old English ‘roccian’, meaning to sway or shake.
(informal) to be very good, enjoyable, or impressive
Your new sneakers rock!
That movie rocked from start to finish.
✦ Emerged in American slang in the late 20th century, extending the excitement of rock music to general praise.
a long, narrow vehicle or missile that burns fuel so fast it shoots high into the sky or outer space
The huge rocket blasted off from the launch pad at dawn.
Scientists monitored the rocket as it entered orbit around Earth.
✦ early 17th century: from Italian ‘rocchetto’ meaning ‘bobbin’, because early rockets resembled spools of thread
a firework that flies high before exploding with light and sound
Children cheered as the colorful rocket burst above the park.
He lit the fuse and stepped back to watch the rocket soar.
✦ Derived from the general sense of rocket as something that shoots upward quickly.
to move or increase very quickly and suddenly
Housing prices have rocketed in the past year.
The car rocketed down the track, leaving its rivals behind.
✦ figurative use from the noun ‘rocket’, transferring the idea of swift upward movement to prices, speeds, etc. (early 20th century)
