noun
- Aeronautics, Rocketry.
- the action of an aircraft in becoming airborne or of a rocket in rising from its launching site under its own power.
- the instant when such action occurs.
- Informal. the launching or commencement of a project, plan, etc.: The liftoff of the sales campaign will be next month.
adjective
- that removes by lifting off; capable of being lifted off: a liftoff correction tape for typewriters; magnetized, liftoff nameplates.
noun
- the initial movement or ascent of a rocket from its launch pad
- the instant at which this occurs
verb lift off
- (intr, adverb) (of a rocket) to leave its launch pad
n.also lift-off, “vertical take-off of a rocket, etc.,” 1956, American English, from lift (v.) + off. Begin flight, as in The spacecraft was due to lift off at ten o’clock. The off in this idiom means “off the ground.” [Late 1800s]