pilot balloon

See synonyms for pilot balloon on Thesaurus.com

noun

a balloon for the visual observation of upper-atmosphere wind currents.

Origin of pilot balloon

First recorded in 1840–50

Words Nearby pilot balloon

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pilot balloon in a sentence

Still another device employed by meteorologists is the pilot-balloon.
The Mentor: The Weather | Charles Fitzhugh Talman
His white cravat was tied before in a sort of pilot-balloon, or white rosicrucian puff.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 66, No 409, November 1849 | Various
The pilot balloon, that is so soon out of sight, can offer no guidance—don't forget that!
Luttrell Of Arran | Charles James Lever

British Dictionary definitions for pilot balloon

pilot balloon

noun

a meteorological balloon used to observe air currents

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

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