air pocket

noun

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

Nearby words

air piracy, air pistol, air plant, air plot, air plug, air pocket, air police, air pollution, air potato, air power, air pressure

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for air pocket

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

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

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

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