updraft
Americannoun
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An upward current of warm, moist air. With enough moisture, the current may visibly condense into a cumulus or cumulonimbus cloud.
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Compare downdraft
Etymology
Origin of updraft
Vocabulary lists containing updraft
Physical Geography - Middle School
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Physical Geography - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Traders will recall that Oracle’s earnings report last September created a massive updraft of more than 100 points in the stock — which it quickly gave back and then some.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 5, 2026
Those are the tall, anvil-shaped producers of tornadoes and hail that have a rotating, powerful updraft of wind often lasting for hours.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 15, 2024
Air floods into that gap, creating an updraft that brings the fire with it.
From BBC • Nov. 8, 2023
That months-long updraft in yields saw a sharp reversal last week after the U.S.
From Reuters • Nov. 8, 2023
His dæmon, gliding and circling above, tipped her wings and sped to the ravine on a billowing updraft.
From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman
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.
