air pocket

American  

noun

1. (not in technical use) a nearly vertical air current that can cause an aircraft to experience a sudden change in altitude, usually a decrease.

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air pocket British  

noun

1. a localized region of low air density or a descending air current, causing an aircraft to suffer an abrupt decrease in height

2. any pocket of air that prevents the flow of a liquid or gas, as in a pipe

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Etymology

Origin of air pocket

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

Whenever the message left the faithful underwhelmed, the stocks hit an air pocket and fell.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026

Somehow, before his arms became completely sealed up in snow, he punched a small air pocket in front of his face.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 13, 2024

“We felt like a little air pocket going up. And then I heard the boom … and then you started smelling kind of the fuel,” passenger Jordan Kleinecke told ABC News.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 17, 2023

“Whether it is stabler than we thought, or we just haven’t hit the air pocket yet, I don’t know,” he said.

From New York Times • Mar. 16, 2023

The plane bounced hard inside an air pocket, and he remembered with a start that he had left his own parachute up front in the nose.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller