VELOCITY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does velocity mean? 

• VELOCITY (noun)
  The noun VELOCITY has 1 sense:

1. distance travelled per unit time

  Familiarity information: VELOCITY used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• VELOCITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Distance travelled per unit time

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

speed; velocity

Hypernyms ("velocity" is a kind of...):

rate (a magnitude or frequency relative to a time unit)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "velocity"):

angular velocity ((physics) the rate of change of the angular position of a rotating body; usually expressed in radians per second or radians per minute)

airspeed (the speed of an aircraft relative to the air in which it is flying)

escape velocity (the minimum velocity needed to escape a gravitational field)

groundspeed (the speed of an aircraft relative to the ground)

hypervelocity (excessive velocity)

muzzle velocity (the velocity of a projectile as it leaves the muzzle of a gun)

peculiar velocity (velocity with respect to the local standard of rest)

radial velocity (velocity along the line of sight toward or away from the observer)

c; light speed; speed of light (the speed at which light travels in a vacuum; the constancy and universality of the speed of light is recognized by defining it to be exactly 299,792,458 meters per second)

steerageway ((nautical) the minimum rate of motion needed for a vessel to be maneuvered)

terminal velocity (the constant maximum velocity reached by a body falling through the atmosphere under the attraction of gravity)

 Context examples 

The velocity at which a component leaves the center solvent stream is dependent on its physical characteristics.

(Field Flow Fractionation, NCI Thesaurus)

Zhou and his team measured velocities of 5,000 kilometers per second.

(Astronomers Study How Quasars Are Powered by Accretion Disks, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

An instrument used for measuring a change in velocity.

(Accelerometer, NCI Thesaurus)

As further evidence, the astronomers also determined the motion and velocity of these stars.

(Stars Born in Winds from Supermassive Black Holes, ESO)

The high flyby velocity is a result of the asteroid's orbit, which approaches very close to the Sun — 11 million miles (18 million kilometers).

(Asteroid 2002 AJ129 to Fly Safely Past Earth February 4, NASA)

The unit of measure for the velocity or speed of an exposure.

(Exposure Flow Rate Unit of Measure, NCI Thesaurus)

At that velocity, even the smallest particle — estimated to be about one-fiftieth of an inch (half a millimeter) across — could cause significant damage to a spacecraft.

(Mars spacecraft prepare for close comet flyby, NASA)

This slows the rate and amplitude of phase 0 depolarization and thus prolongs the duration of the action potential, thereby reducing cell excitability and conduction velocity.

(Disopyramide, NCI Thesaurus)

The former star's escape velocity exceeds that of light, resulting in a black hole, from which nothing can escape.

(Elusive Middleweight Black Hole Found at Center of Giant Star Cluster, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

A unit of both speed (scalar) and velocity (vector), defined as the distance of one centimeter traveled per unit time equal to one minute.

(Centimeter Per Minute, NCI Thesaurus)