Earphone definition, a sound receiver that fits in or over the ear, as of a radio or telephone. See more.
Answer Wiki. If a rocket went straight up, it would either continue in that direction and leave Earth, or it would fall back down, depending on its velocity. Most rockets intend to enter orbit, which is an elliptical trajectory, and it's much more efficient to arc into this trajectory than to go straight up and then accelerate laterally.
A special case of a ballistic trajectory for a rocket is a lofted trajectory, a trajectory with an apogee greater than the minimum-energy trajectory to the same range. In other words, the rocket travels higher and by doing so it uses more energy to get to the same landing point.