spaceship
- 01 A2 Elementary
a vehicle that travels through outer space, often carrying people.
a vehicle designed for travel or operation in outer space, especially one carrying a crew.
Simple“The astronauts lived inside the spaceship for six months while they studied the stars.”
In context“The engineering team spent decades developing a spaceship capable of sustaining human life during the long journey to the outer planets.”
Synonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
a symbol (<=>) used in computer code to compare two values.
the comparison operator <=> used in languages like Ruby, C++, and PHP to return -1, 0, or 1 based on value relationships.
Simple“You can use the spaceship operator to sort the list of names quickly.”
In context“By implementing the spaceship operator, the developer allowed the custom object to be sorted using the language's built-in comparison logic.”
UsageOften referred to as the 'spaceship operator' because of its visual appearance.
Synonymsthree way comparison - 03 C2 Proficiency
a pattern in a computer simulation that moves across the screen over time.
a finite pattern that reappears in a different position after a set number of generations in a cellular automaton.
Simple“In the Game of Life, a spaceship is a pattern that travels across the grid.”
In context“The discovery of a new, complex spaceship in the simulation provided deeper insights into the mathematical properties of the grid's rules.”
Synonyms
* space + ship * (programming operator): From its resemblance to the shape of a flying saucer.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.