arresting gear

noun

A system used to quickly decelerate a landing aircraft, essential for landing on an aircraft carrier (although land-based airfields can also be equipped with arresting gear); the most common system consists of a series of transverse wire ropes designed to snag an aircraft's tailhook, connected to a hydraulic or mechanical energy-absorbing system, but other systems exist (typically only for use in an emergency situation) which use a net to slow down an aircraft.

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Meanings

nounarresting gear (countable and uncountable, plural arresting gears)

plural arresting gears

  1. countableuncountableaeronauticsA system used to quickly decelerate a landing aircraft, essential for landing on an aircraft carrier (although land-based airfields can also be equipped with arresting gear); the most common system consists of a series of transverse wire ropes designed to snag an aircraft's tailhook, connected to a hydraulic or mechanical energy-absorbing system, but other systems exist (typically only for use in an emergency situation) which use a net to slow down an aircraft.
Cite this entry
APA

arresting gear. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arresting%20gear

MLA

“arresting gear.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arresting%20gear. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “arresting gear,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arresting%20gear.

Source: arresting gear on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.