glider
Americannoun
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a motorless, heavier-than-air aircraft for gliding from a higher to a lower level by the action of gravity or from a lower to a higher level by the action of air currents.
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a porch swing made of an upholstered seat suspended from a steel framework by links or springs.
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a person or thing that glides.
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a person who pilots a glider.
noun
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an aircraft capable of gliding and soaring in air currents without the use of an engine See also sailplane
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a person or thing that glides
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another name for flying phalanger
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of glider
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at glide, -er 1
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.
See Examples For:
The startup builds drones and other defense systems, developing products such as Viper, its vertical-takeoff strike vehicle; Glide, its high-altitude glider capable of launching weapons; and Stratos, its airborne satellite platform for surveillance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026
In Salem: In the original “Thomas Crown Affair,” a stuntman for Steve McQueen takes an acrobatic thrill ride in a glider to the film’s title track, “The Windmills of Your Mind.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2026
The Helix is classified as a Part 103 ultralight aircraft, the same regulatory class as a hang glider.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2026
Miss Pidgeon uses the glider service to attend a course at Belfast Met and said she was "quite shocked" the first time it happened.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2025
“You want help us fly it?”He held up the model glider.
From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep
His obituary remembered Grillmair as "an avid pilot, flying small aircraft and gliders that he owned and maintained at his home; he would cheerfully accept requests to fly with him".
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026
Duncan Toys has been producing yo-yos, flying discs and model gliders in China, and Washington's escalating tariffs with Beijing last year similarly forced him to pause imports.
From Barron's ● Feb. 20, 2026
He also flew gliders, sometimes in time trials, and competed in cross-country skiing races.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 25, 2025
Many local hang gliders said Simoneau was fearless, and though his biggest passion was a risky one, he was careful in the sky.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 12, 2025
When everything was ready, thirty-four British commandos would fly in on gliders, land, and set out for the plant.
From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin
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.
