rocket science

noun — 2 senses

rocket science

noun
1

The science or study of rockets and their design.

2

Excessive, Idiomatic, In the negative Anything overly complex, detailed, or confusing.

  • It's not rocket science. Just screw in the bulb and flip the switch.
  • It's not rocket science. You just need to screw this to that!
2 more examples
  • This isn’t rocket science. Government standards matter. They drive innovation and efficiency.2007 January 19, Thomas Friedman, “A Warning From the Garden”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
  • Akers claims that ETCS signalling renewals are roughly 50% of the cost of conventional renewals. If nothing else, this is an important reason for NR to be keen to switch. "There's no rocket science or magic in that, there's just physically less to deliver," he says. "There are no trackside signals. Yes, you have balises and marker boards, and you still have train detection, but by and large there is simply less to deliver.2024 May 29, Philip Haigh, “The digital revolution and the switch to in-cab signalling”, in RAIL, number 1010, page 29:
Derived terms
rocket surgery
Related terms
rocket scientist

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.