sonic barrier
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of sonic barrier
First recorded in 1945–50
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.
Sound was initially dismissed as a possible deterrent when research revealed fishes become acclimated to constant tones and would eventually move through a sonic barrier.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 20, 2017
When U.S. air scientists heard the triumphant trumpetings of the British press, they protested that they, too, had shot rocket-driven missiles through the sonic barrier.
From Time Magazine Archive
Well below these speeds, the "sonic barrier" makes itself felt, jamming an airplane's controls, destroying the lift of its wings.
From Time Magazine Archive
Thus, although the sonic barrier is around 660 m.p.h. at the normal jet cruising altitude of 35,000 ft., commercial jets are held down to a speed of about 560 m.p.h.
From Time Magazine Archive
An accelerating, effortless flight, a faint tremor as they passed the sonic barrier, then no sensory impressions at all.
From The Mighty Dead by Gault, William Campbell
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.
