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air pocket

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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Origin of air pocket

First recorded in 1910–15
Also called air hole.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for air pocket

Historical Examples

  • But of course I couldn't tell in the dark; and just afterwards I struck an air-pocket, and had a bit of trouble with the bus.

    Men, Women and Guns

    H. C. (Herman Cyril) McNeile

  • For perhaps ten seconds he hung thus, till the monoplane, rocking through an air-pocket, tilted violently.

    Billy Barcroft, R.N.A.S.

    Percy F. Westerman

British Dictionary definitions for air pocket

air pocket

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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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012