Homing

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Homing \Hom"ing\ (h[=o]m"[i^]ng), p. a.
     Home-returning; -- used specifically of carrier pigeons.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {Homing pigeon}, any pigeon trained to return home from a
        distance. Also called {carrier pigeon}. Most are bred from


        the domestic pigeon {Columba livia}. Homing pigeons are
        used for sending back messages or for flying races. By
        carrying the birds away and releasing them at gradually
        increasing distances from home, they may be trained to
        return with more or less certainty and promptness from
        distances up to four or five hundred miles. The birds
        typically do not stop on their way home, and may average
        as much as 60 miles per hour on their return trip. If the
        distance is increased much beyond 400 miles, the birds are
        unable to cover it without stopping for a prolonged rest,
        and their return becomes doubtful. The record for returnig
        from a distance is close to 1,200 miles. Homing pigeons
        are not bred for fancy points or special colors, but for
        strength, speed, endurance, and intelligence or homing
        instinct. Although used since ancient times, homing
        pigeons have been largely displaced for practical purposes
        by radio and electronic communications, but they are still
        used in some special situations at the end of the 20th
        century. They were used in military operations as recently
        as in World War II.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC] hominian

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  homing
       adj : orienting or directing homeward or to a destination; "the
             homing instinct"; "a homing beacon"