Definition

1. Noun:
   • A parachute used to decelerate an object that is moving rapidly: A device designed to slow down the descent or speed of an object, such as a spacecraft, aircraft, or racing vehicle.
   • A truncated cloth cone mounted on a mast; used (e.g., at airports) to show the direction of the wind: A wind indicator, often shaped like a cone or sleeve, that visually shows wind direction and sometimes speed.
   • A funnel-shaped device towed as a target by an airplane: A towed aerial target used for gunnery or missile practice.
   • Restraint consisting of a canvas-covered frame that floats behind a vessel; prevents drifting or maintains the heading into a wind: A sea anchor or drag device used to stabilize a boat or ship in heavy weather.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The test pilot deployed the drogue to slow the experimental aircraft.
  • The airport's windsock, a type of drogue, indicated strong crosswinds.
  • Military pilots practiced by firing at a drogue towed behind another plane.
  • In the storm, the captain ordered the crew to stream the drogue to keep the ship's bow into the waves.

Advanced Usage

• "Drogue parachute": A specific type of drogue, often a smaller parachute deployed first to stabilize an object before the main parachute opens.

  • The capsule used a drogue parachute for initial stabilization during re-entry.

• "Sea drogue": Specifically refers to the maritime drag device used as a sea anchor.

  • They deployed a sea drogue to prevent the life raft from capsizing.

Variants and Related Words

• Sea anchor (n): A synonym for the maritime drogue; a device dragged in the water to slow a vessel or keep it headed into the wind.
• Windsock (n): A common type of drogue used at airfields to indicate wind direction.
• Drag device (n): A general term for any apparatus designed to create aerodynamic or hydrodynamic drag.

Synonyms

• Drag parachute: (for the deceleration parachute).
• Wind cone: (for the wind indicator).
• Towed target: (for the aerial practice target).
• Drift anchor: (for the maritime restraint device).

Related Phrases

• To stream a drogue: The action of deploying a drogue, especially a sea anchor, into the water.

  • The sailor knew it was time to stream the drogue when the waves grew too large.

• Drogue deployment: The act of releasing or activating a drogue device.

  • Drogue deployment is a critical phase of the spacecraft's landing sequence.

Related Idioms

(This word is highly technical and is not commonly used in idiomatic expressions.)

Noun

1. a parachute used to decelerate an object that is moving rapidly
2. restraint consisting of a canvas covered frame that floats behind a vessel; prevents drifting or maintains the heading into a wind
3. a truncated cloth cone mounted on a mast; used (e.g., at airports) to show the direction of the wind
4. a funnel-shaped device towed as a target by an airplane