clear-air turbulence

noun

: sudden severe turbulence occurring in cloudless regions that causes violent jarring or buffeting of aircraft

Examples of clear-air turbulence in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
At high altitudes, planes can run into clear-air turbulence, which is dangerously invisible to the eye and to radars, often striking with no warning. Koh Ewe, TIME, 2 July 2024 The two primary kinds of turbulence are clear-air turbulence and convective turbulence, the turbulence that occurs in, say, thunderstorms or in big clouds, big lines of clouds. Abc News, ABC News, 22 May 2024 Williams’ analysis predicted that clear-air turbulence would increase significantly across the world in the coming decades. Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 21 May 2024 Baumgardner added that clear-air turbulence is still rare. Nidhi Sharma, NBC News, 20 Apr. 2023 See all Example Sentences for clear-air turbulence 

Word History

First Known Use

1955, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of clear-air turbulence was in 1955

Dictionary Entries Near clear-air turbulence

Cite this Entry

“Clear-air turbulence.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clear-air%20turbulence. Accessed 24 Nov. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on clear-air turbulence

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!