rocket

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
rocket1

▶noun

• 1 a cylindrical projectile that can be propelled to a great height or distance by the combustion of its contents.

  ■ a missile or spacecraft propelled by an engine providing thrust on the same principle.

• 2 Brit. informal a severe reprimand.

▶verb (rockets, rocketing, rocketed)

• 1 (of an amount, price, etc.) increase very rapidly and suddenly.

• 2 move very rapidly.

• 3 attack with rocket-propelled missiles.

– origin C17: from Fr. roquette, from Ital. rocchetto, dimin. of rocca ‘distaff (for spinning)’, with ref. to its cylindrical shape.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
rocket2

▶noun Brit. an edible Mediterranean plant of the cabbage family, eaten in salads. [Eruca vesicaria subsp. sativa.]

■ used in names of other fast-growing plants of this family, e.g. sweet rocket.

– origin C15: from Fr. roquette, from Ital. ruchetta, dimin. of ruca, from L. eruca ‘downy-stemmed plant’.