parachute
Americannoun
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parachutes
plural
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a folding, umbrellalike, fabric device with cords supporting a harness or straps for allowing a person, object, package, etc., to float down safely through the air from a great height, especially from an aircraft, rendered effective by the resistance of the air that expands it during the descent and reduces the velocity of its fall.
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Horology. a shockproofing device for the balance staff of a watch, consisting of a yielding, springlike support for the bearing at either end.
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Informal.
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the aggregate of benefits, as severance pay or vacation pay, given an employee who is dismissed from a company.
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verb (used with object)
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parachutes,
present (3rd person singular)
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parachuted,
past participle, past
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parachuting
present participle
verb (used without object)
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parachutes,
present (3rd person singular)
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parachuted,
past participle, past
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parachuting
present participle
noun
verb
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(of troops, supplies, etc) to land or cause to land by parachute from an aircraft
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(in an election) to bring in (a candidate, esp someone well known) from outside the constituency
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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parachutesimple
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parachutessimple
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have parachutedperfect
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has parachutedperfect
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am parachutingprogressive
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are parachutingprogressive
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is parachutingprogressive
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have been parachutingperfect progressive
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has been parachutingperfect progressive
Past
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parachutedsimple
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had parachutedperfect
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was parachutingprogressive
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were parachutingprogressive
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had been parachutingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of parachute
1775–85; < French, equivalent to para- para- 2 + chute fall; see chute 1
Explanation
A parachute fills with air and breaks the fall of someone falling from an airplane. If your airplane is in trouble, and you need to jump, your best friend is a parachute. That's the device people jumping from airplanes use to slow down their falls. A parachute fills up like a balloon, slowing the person down so they fall to the ground gently and safely. People who jump out of planes for fun also use parachutes. When you do this, you're parachuting. Whether for fun or because of your plane's mechanical failure, parachuting is exciting.
Vocabulary lists containing parachute
List 7
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List 9
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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:
He said he recalled having pulled the lever to release the car's parachute before trying to steer it away from disaster, "but disaster was, it seemed, my fate".
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
My travels had taken me to coastal areas in Connecticut and New York that are so privatized, you’d need a kayak or a parachute to make it onto a beach.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
The Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft touched down safely by parachute on July 26 at 5:27 a.m.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026
As military aircraft staged flyovers, members of the Army and Navy parachute teams jumped with giant U.S. flags over the mall.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
The Moon Squadron use them for nighttime parachute drops, the Hudsons being bigger than the Lizzies, not so suitable for short field landings.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
Former Montana smokejumper — a firefighter who parachutes into rural terrain to contain wildfires — Sam Forstag is also hoping to go to D.C. as the state’s first Democratic member of Congress in 30 years.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
For nearly 25 years, GoPro cameras have gone underwater, glided with parachutes and slipped down ski slopes, allowing the adventurous to record images of their experiences.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
All three landed under good parachutes but two people collided with each other during the freefall.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
The astronauts, who set a distance record, landed in the Pacific Ocean under parachutes a few minutes after 8 p.m.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
She soon found that her assignment was anything but boring—for one thing, she had to make a few practice jumps herself before she learned to pack parachutes.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
Rumors have persisted that a compromise candidate could be parachuted into the process at the behest of the powerful five veto-wielding Security Council members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026
The RAF is investigating a crash involving one of its high-speed Hawk fighter jets after two of its pilots ejected and parachuted out of their plane moments before it crashed and burst into flames.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
Walker, a 65-year-old London consultant, said she had yet to "make an impression" of the former mayor of Greater Manchester, who was parachuted into the top office by the Labour Party.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
He was parachuted into parliament in a by-election last month to take his place on the green benches and, weeks later, at the top of the greasy pole.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
In July 1945, toward the end of World War II, American soldiers parachuted into North Vietnam with orders to find and to help Ho Chi Minh.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
The 82nd can perform a range of missions including shooting down threats and parachuting into hostile territory to secure airfields and land.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
Approach this as a collaborative effort, not as a sister parachuting into his personal and financial life all guns blazing.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 23, 2026
In one striking photo, a kneeling US pilot is confronted by a Kuwaiti local, moments after parachuting from his jet.
From Barron's ● Mar. 10, 2026
Rhodes joined the Army after high school and served for three years before being honorably discharged after a parachuting accident in 1986.
From Salon ● Dec. 30, 2025
She continued parachuting and competed with the Soviet National Aerobatics Team in England in 1970.
From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson
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.
