glider

American  

[glahy-der] / ˈglaɪ dər /

noun

• gliders
  plural

1. 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.

2. a porch swing made of an upholstered seat suspended from a steel framework by links or springs.

3. a person or thing that glides.

4. a person who pilots a glider.

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glider British  

/ ˈɡlaɪdə /

noun

1. an aircraft capable of gliding and soaring in air currents without the use of an engine See also sailplane

2. a person or thing that glides

3. another name for flying phalanger

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• gliders
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of glider

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at glide, -er ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

glider gliders

Bigger trees are also more likely to form hollows – a critical and declining habitat for rare species such as the greater glider and Leadbeater’s possum.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 4, 2026

A few months later, the celebrated aviator Charles Lindbergh made camp in Lebec to test a glider in the mountain drafts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026

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

“This model of glider take man into sky’’ Father said.

From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep

“And you know why it stopped? It stopped because it turns out the gliders were geese. We called back the planes.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 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

Collected by gliders, floats and drifters, these instruments provide valuable information about the most turbulent region of the hurricane environment, called the boundary layer, where the air meets the ocean.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2025

After midnight on June 6, 1944, barely a week after the SS-HJ was officially activated, the Germans received word that Allied paratroopers and gliders had landed in Normandy.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

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