Definition of "drogue" [drogue]

• Nautical See sea anchor. (noun)
• A drogue parachute. (noun)
• A funnel-shaped or cone-shaped device towed behind an aircraft as a target. (noun)
• A funnel-shaped device at the end of the hose of a tanker aircraft, used as a stabilizer and receptacle for the probe of a receiving aircraft, as in refueling. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "This “basket,” as aviators call the drogue, holds the hose steady in flight and helps the pilot seeking fuel guide the refueling probe to its target."
• "Probe-and-drogue refueling has been around since the 1940s. but no-one has attempted it with unmanned aircraft at high altitude (up to 60,000ft) and low speed (160ft), where deploying and stabilizing the drogue will be a challenge because of the low air density and dynamic pressure."
• "Tonight we might — we might fix some kind of drogue to her bottom."