First recorded in 1950–55
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Witnesses told the BBC it sounded "like a bomb" and compared it to a "sonic boom".
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
A sonic boom occurs when an aircraft travels faster than the speed of sound, generating shockwaves that rapidly compress and decompress the air, producing an explosive noise.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2025
A loud boom and rattling were reported last month across a broad swath of the region due to a sonic boom from a SpaceX cargo vessel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2025
“Dragon will also announce its arrival with a brief sonic boom prior to splashing down in the Pacific Ocean,” SpaceX posted about an hour before the boom was reported.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 2025
The telltale sonic boom indicated that the plane had pushed through the volatile transonic region into the state of smoother, all-supersonic flows.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
