homing

[ hoh-ming ]

adjective

1. capable of returning home, usually over a great distance:

   We saw the homing birds at dusk.

2. guiding or directing homeward or to a destination, especially by mechanical means:

   the homing instinct; a homing beacon.

homing

/ ˈhəʊmɪŋ /

noun

1. zoology relating to the ability to return home after travelling great distances

   homing instinct

2. (of an aircraft, a missile, etc) capable of guiding itself onto a target or to a specified point

Word History and Origins

Origin of homing¹

First recorded in 1860–65; home + -ing ²

Example Sentences

It’s akin to a spaceship with awful homing machinery that crashes into other planets and causes an unexpected wave of disaster.

From Singularity Hub 

Once absorbed, the cells readily translated mRNA into proteins—dotting the outside of T cells—that acted as homing beacons to find and destroy heart cells responsible for scarring.

From Singularity Hub 

The game does a consistent job of homing in on small moments and recalling earlier details from the franchise and expanding upon them, adding a sense of heft and solidity to this fictional world.

From Washington Post

Oh, and you can also play as the dodgeball, just hold down a button to “become the ball” and your teammate can toss you into an enemy like you’re a homing missile.

From Washington Post

Then the researchers will make sure the potential spider repellent is not toxic or a homing beacon for ants.

From Science News

In fact, Lew has a well-deserved reputation for homing in on the values that lurk behind the numbers.

From The Daily Beast

Over the years, she has facilitated the transporting, homing, and re-homing of more than 250 dogs.

From The Daily Beast

Like a homing device, it zipped over the net, into the corner of the court, and past the helpless Dabul to win the point.

From The Daily Beast

At last he was forced to use the homing beam, and it guided him back across the deserted metropolis to the field.

From Project Gutenberg

And so to the unpeopled rooms of the little old Vermont farmhouse Peter's gentle thoughts ever swarmed, like homing bees.

From Project Gutenberg

It was a green and amber evening, with the shadows already deepening over Coombe Woods and the calling of homing rooks in the air.

From Project Gutenberg

Evening, with the sheep homing to the bedding-ground, brought reflections of a different hue.

From Project Gutenberg

If ever a man had any "homing instinct" it would surely show itself on such an occasion as this.

From Project Gutenberg