astronaut
noun
as·tro·naut
ˈa-strə-ˌnȯt 
-ˌnät
plural astronauts
: a person whose profession is to travel beyond the earth's atmosphere
NASA on Wednesday introduced the group of astronauts it has chosen for upcoming missions to the moon. The program, called Artemis, aims to send people back to the moon for the first time since the end of NASA's Apollo program in 1972.—
Kenneth Chang
Kenneth Chang
broadly
: any person who travels beyond the earth's atmosphere
William Shatner, the 90-year-old actor of "Star Trek" fame, endured a 10-minute, rocket-powered ride to the edge of space … . In that moment, at least one thing became certain: Yes, a nonagenarian can be an astronaut. —Jackie Wattles
Jackie Wattles 
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In the scene, an astronaut sees potential iterations of himself in the future.
—Skyler Trepel, People.com, 11 Jan. 2025
The crew includes one astronaut each from Italy, Turkey and Sweden while the mission is led by Axiom’s chief astronaut Michael López-Alegría who is making his sixth trip to space.
—Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel, 10 Jan. 2025
Damon stars as an astronaut who is stranded on a planet and is awaiting rescue.
—Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 10 Jan. 2025
President-elect Donald Trump nominated entrepreneur and commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman as the agency's 15th administrator last month.
—Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 8 Jan. 2025
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Skyler Trepel, People.com, 11 Jan. 2025
The crew includes one astronaut each from Italy, Turkey and Sweden while the mission is led by Axiom’s chief astronaut Michael López-Alegría who is making his sixth trip to space.
—Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel, 10 Jan. 2025
Damon stars as an astronaut who is stranded on a planet and is awaiting rescue.
—Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 10 Jan. 2025
President-elect Donald Trump nominated entrepreneur and commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman as the agency's 15th administrator last month.
—Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 8 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for astronaut
Dictionary Entries Near astronaut
Cite this Entry
“Astronaut.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/astronaut. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
astronaut
noun
as·tro·naut
ˈas-trə-ˌnȯt
-nät
: a traveler in a spacecraft
astronautic
adjective
ˌas-trə-ˈnȯt-ik
or astronautical
-i-kəl,
-nät-
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