At the time, Challenger was the most-flown orbiter in NASAâs fleet. Sadly, the Challenger made history in a different way that morning, entering the books as NASAâs first space shuttle disaster. A mere 73 seconds after liftoff, the space shuttle broke apart over the Atlantic, taking the lives of all seven crewmembers.
Condescending means to treat someone in a demeaning manner by implying that they are inferior, often in an ingratiating, patronizing, or snobbish way. Another term is talking down to someone.
A snooty waiter might condescend to serve you dinner at a fancy restaurant, meaning that he'd consider himself far too important to carry out the mundane task of delivering your hamburger and fries. You might have noticed that condescend contains the word descend, meaning to move down from a higher place. You can think of condescend as lowering yourself to do a task that you feel is far beneath you. Kings and queens would never condescend to do their own laundry at the palace, for example. If they even knew how to do the laundry, you can be sure they'd do it in a condescending, or superior, way to let everyone know that housework is no task for a monarch.