Definitions

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

  • adjective Having, caused by, or relating to a speed greater than the speed of sound in a given medium, especially air.
  • adjective Of or relating to sound waves beyond human audibility.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Moving at a speed greater than the speed of sound in air; -- this speed varies with altitude, since the speed of sound varies with altitude, as well as with temperature and humidity, being approximately 1129 feet per second at sea level and 984 feet per second at 16 miles altitude.
  • adjective Capable of moving at speeds higher than the speed of sound; -- of aircraft.

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

  • adjective of a sound ultrasonic, having a frequency too high to be audible
  • adjective of a speed greater than the speed of sound (in the same medium, and at the same temperature and pressure)

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

  • adjective having frequencies above those of audible sound
  • adjective (of speed) greater than the speed of sound in a given medium (especially air)

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

super- +‎ sonic

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Examples

  • It is then repeated several times, and I realise what we are hearing is not rockets, but planes - very loud and incredibly fast, making me think of the term supersonic, if that even means anything outside of comics.

    Palestine Blogs aggregator 2009

  • Iran test-fired what it calls a supersonic ballistic surface-to-sea missile today in a dramatic ceremony that saw the missile crash into a ship that went up in smoke.

    FOXNews.com 2011

  • The Institute, looking further into the future, is investigating the problems likely to be encountered in supersonic flight.

    The Impact of Air Transport on World Affairs 1960

  • The engine on the X-51, called a supersonic-combustion ramjet, or "scramjet," pulls off a couple of especially tricky tasks.

    When Supersonic Is Just Too Slow 2010

  • The engine on the X-51, called a supersonic-combustion ramjet, or "scramjet," pulls off a couple of especially tricky tasks.

    Technology Technology 2010

  • Now this fighter does milder duty as a kind of supersonic joyride for the superrich.

    Flying The 'Big Bad Dog' 2007

  • I had to tiptoe past him because those blind guys ... they've got some kind of supersonic hearing or something.

    unclebob Diary Entry unclebob 2002

  • One car where you * could* actually let the "supersonic" blue slide: P posted 4 months ago by Andrew I (guest) * Congrats!

    Fast Lane Daily - Auto News. Fast Cars. Fast and Fresh. Every day. 2010

  • There's a fair amount of voice on it, and you can hear Denio hit one of her "supersonic" stratospheres on "The Shop of Wild Dreams."

    The Seattle Times 2010

  • Cochran, sometimes called the "Speed Queen," held a slew of aviation records and became the first woman to go "supersonic" with Chuck Yeager flying her chase plane.

    MovieWeb: News 2010

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