orbiting

verb

present participle of orbit
as in circling
to travel completely around the moon orbits the Earth

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of orbiting In 2001, Canadarm2 was attached to the International Space Station and used to help build the orbiting laboratory. — Joanna Goodrich, IEEE Spectrum, 2 Sep. 2026 Canada's GHGSat has a program in which employees name the company's Earth-orbiting satellites after family members, which has generated names from real-life people like Eleonore and Penny. — Elizabeth Howell, Space.com, 1 Sep. 2026 This experimental, eclipse-creating coronagraph will allow Roman to directly image any planet, however faint, that might be orbiting the masked star. — Marcia Dunn, Fortune, 30 Aug. 2026 Roman could also provide the first definitive proof of exomoons, or moons orbiting exoplanets. — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 30 Aug. 2026 However, Viasat plans to use the spectrum for downloading and uploading data on the F2, a high-orbiting geostationary satellite over 22,000 miles away. — Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 29 Aug. 2026 Instead of orbiting Earth, Roman will operate near a point in space known as the Sun-Earth L2 (Lagrange Point 2). — Jennifer Borresen, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026 The lunar eclipse also may be visible to Hathaway and the nine other people living off the planet — seven astronauts at the International Space Station and three aboard China’s orbiting outpost. — Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 25 Aug. 2026 The lunar eclipse may also be visible to Hathaway and the nine other people living off the planet — seven astronauts at the International Space Station and three aboard China’s orbiting outpost. — Marcia Dunn, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for orbiting
  1. circling
  2. traversing
  3. encircling
Verb
  • Attendees may make a habit of circling conflicts and calculating whether ten minutes of one set is worth the hike before another begins.
    — Svetlana Khachiyan, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026
  • The trio lived and worked in space for 245 days, circling Earth 3,920 times and traveling a total of nearly 104 million miles (167 million kilometers), according to NASA.
    — Mike Wall, Space.com, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of circling
Verb
  • Now, agents are capable of performing sophisticated workflows and traversing multiple applications by leveraging a critical artifact of modern computing, the application programming interface (API).
    — George C. Lee II, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The pair left their vehicle to find assistance, traversing salt flats toward Badwater Road, a two-lane highway encircled by mountains.
    — Andrea Sachs, Washington Post, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of traversing
Verb
  • There are no bleachers, so spectators set up lawn chairs encircling the field.
    — Kelenna Onukwugha, Christian Science Monitor, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Its signature Hémisphère features fine grooves encircling each plate like rings around a planet.
    — Angela Tafoya, Architectural Digest, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of encircling

Browse Nearby Words

orbited
orbiting
orbits
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Orbiting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/orbiting. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of apiary

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

A List of Most Commonly Confused Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 4
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
anagrams on a chalk board
Word Builder Quiz Vol. 2 Pick the letter that when added to a word will ma...
See All