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
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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:
To get cleared, I have to pass a pre-flight instruction class how to use a parachute and an explanation what to do with the barf bag.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 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
Nasa and Elon Musk's Space X were among industry giants to visit a factory which provides parachute material for cosmic exploration.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
Pull too early and the parachute might snag on the plane’s tail.
From "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz
Sam Forstag, a 31-year-old union leader and former smokejumper - a person who parachutes in to fight forest fires - just won the Democratic nomination for Montana's 1st congressional district, defeating a more establishment candidate.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
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
During World War II, the DuPont company turned its scientific and manufacturing capacity to national service, producing munitions, nylon parachutes, Lucite airplane turrets, and many other products for the war effort.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
All three landed under good parachutes but two people collided with each other during the freefall.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
In ecological release, an organism escapes its home and parachutes into an ecosystem that has never encountered it before.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
He said this includes pharmaceuticals which need to be manufactured in micro-gravity conditions before being parachuted to Earth.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
Base jumpers parachuted from its heights, and a performance artist recorded himself teetering along a 1-inch-wide slackline strung between two of the properties’ 40-story towers.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
British paratroopers and medics parachuted onto the island to deliver urgent medical supplies for him.
From Barron's ● May 11, 2026
This is the first time the UK military has parachuted in medical personnel to provide humanitarian support, according to the MoD.
From BBC ● May 10, 2026
It went high into the air, ignited, then parachuted slowly toward the ground, lighting the entire area.
From "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers
In 2026, it’s more like parachuting onto the roof.
From Barron's ● May 22, 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
A second video verified by Storyful showed people parachuting to the ground nearby.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 2, 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.
