Definition of "orbital" []

• Of or relating to an orbit. (adjective)
• The wave function of an electron in an atom or molecule, indicating the electron's probable location. (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.

• "They are going to focus on what they call the orbital space plane, which a vehicle just to carry humans into orbit, so that we could get people up to the space station."
• "They did not obtain orbital velocity (would need a whole order of magnitude increase in thrust to get there)."
• "For Z Zcr, if the innermost orbital is not filled, the electric field of the nucleus will pull an electron out of the vacuum, resulting in the spontaneous emission of a positron."