Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A light glider used especially for soaring.
  • intransitive verb To fly a sailplane.

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

  • noun aircraft A glider that is optimised for soaring and is equipped with fixed wings and fuselage.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb fly a plane without an engine
  • noun aircraft supported only by the dynamic action of air against its surfaces

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

sail + plane

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Examples

  • FAA spokesman Mike Fergus says the glider, described as a sailplane, apparently disconnected after the Saturday afternoon collision and landed safely a short time later.

    chicagotribune.com - 2010

  • FAA spokesman Mike Fergus says the glider, described as a sailplane, apparently disconnected after the Saturday afternoon collision and landed safely a short time later.

    post-gazette.com - News 2010

  • FAA spokesman Mike Fergus says the glider, described as a sailplane, apparently disconnected after the Saturday afternoon collision and landed safely a short time later.

    SFGate: Top News Stories 2010

  • FAA spokesman Mike Fergus says the glider, described as a sailplane, apparently disconnected after the Saturday afternoon collision and landed safely a short time later.

    SFGate: Top News Stories 2010

  • FAA spokesman Mike Fergus says the glider, described as a sailplane, apparently disconnected after the Saturday afternoon collision and landed safely a short time later.

    CITIZEN-TIMES.com - News 2010

  • FAA spokesman Mike Fergus says the glider, described as a sailplane, apparently disconnected after the Saturday afternoon collision and landed safely a short time later.

    SFGate: Top News Stories 2010

  • In Cumbrian dialect the sailplane pilots known as the "rock polishers" who fly over the Lake District might be termed as "leet as a fedder feather".

    Country diary: Grasmere, Lake District 2011

  • Yesterday a 1960s Olympia 463 sailplane landed as light as that proverbial feather in Grasmere, albeit skimming a drystone wall at 50mph to slide along the grass after 100 yards and just before another wall loomed ominously ahead.

    Country diary: Grasmere, Lake District 2011

  • Yesterday a sailplane landed as light as that proverbial feather in Grasmere . . . under the beetling eminence of Helm Crag . . .

    Country diary: Grasmere, Lake District 2011

  • Loro Piana, the brand synonymous with Italian cashmere, launches an eyewear line using sailplane technology to deliver a superior polarized lens.

    Super-Fly Shades 2011

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