radar
Americannoun
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Electronics. a device for determining the presence and location of an object by measuring the time for the echo of a radio wave to return from it and the direction from which it returns.
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a means or sense of awareness or perception.
lobbyists working under the media's radar.
noun
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Former name: radiolocation. a method for detecting the position and velocity of a distant object, such as an aircraft A narrow beam of extremely high-frequency radio pulses is transmitted and reflected by the object back to the transmitter, the signal being displayed on a radarscope. The direction of the reflected beam and the time between transmission and reception of a pulse determine the position of the object
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the equipment used in such detection
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A method of detecting distant objects and determining their position, speed, material composition, or other characteristics by causing radio waves to be reflected from them and analyzing the reflected waves. The waves can be converted into images, as for use on weather maps.
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The equipment used in such detecting.
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See also Doppler effect lidar sonar
Discover More
Police use radar techniques to determine the speed of automobiles.
Other Word Forms
- antiradar noun
Etymology
Origin of radar
1940–45, ra(dio) d(etecting) a(nd) r(anging)
Compare meaning
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The U.S. has had a year to fine-tune its targeting plans and selected countermeasures for the exact radars Iran uses.
Northrop, notably the maker of the stealth bomber as well as many drones, missiles, and radar technologies, stock was up 15% over that span.
From Barron's
Regardless of the muted market reaction, lidar technology—which is essentially laser-based radar—used by cars and machines to visualize their environment, is maturing.
From Barron's
That enabled them to flick on their air-defense radars at the last moment, so U.S. pilots would have little time to react—a tactic pilots came to call a “SAMbush.”
Outside of Spain, the group has worked on projects including Eurofighter Typhoon jets and space surveillance radars in Germany.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
