Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An aerobatic flying manoeuvre in which the pilot follows a knife-edge roll by flipping the airplane end-over-end and into a spin, from which the pilot then recovers control of the airplane.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Derived from a Czechoslovakian word which roughly means "headache" or "hangover", the expression "lomcevak" originated from the Moravia region, famous for its Jelinek slivovitz, a traditional Czechoslovakian alcohol, and is commonly used to describe the rotating motions of one who has had one too many. The English use originates from Czechoslovakian aerobatic pilot Ladislav Bezák's mechanic, who at a 1958 air show in Brno, Czechoslovakia, jokingly called Bezák's tumble manoeuvres "Lomcevaks" when asked by journalists what they were.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word lomcevak.

Examples

    Sorry, no example sentences found.

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • A crazy-looking aerobatic maneuver where the aircraft appears to tumble out of control, end over end. See wikipedia "aerobatic maneuvers". Pronounced lump/-shavak.

    January 12, 2007

  • The original word, from the Moravian region of the Czech Republic, is written lomčovák. Under the influence of the labial m the initial t sound of č (which has the sound tsh) mutates to p; although the word gets reproduced in English without diacritics, and with e replacing o, as lomcevak, slight alterations of the vowels lead to the pronunciation lumpshavak, as suggested by oroboros.

    April 15, 2012