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• hang glider
  hang glider

  noun

  a kitelike glider consisting of a V -shaped wing underneath which the pilot is strapped: kept aloft by updrafts and guided by the pilot's shifting body weight.
• hang-glider
  hang-glider

  noun

  an unpowered aircraft consisting of a large cloth wing stretched over a light framework from which the pilot hangs in a harness, using a horizontal bar to control the flight

hang glider

American  

noun

hang gliders plural

1. a kitelike glider consisting of a V -shaped wing underneath which the pilot is strapped: kept aloft by updrafts and guided by the pilot's shifting body weight.

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hang-glider British  

noun

1. an unpowered aircraft consisting of a large cloth wing stretched over a light framework from which the pilot hangs in a harness, using a horizontal bar to control the flight

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hang-gliding
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• hang gliders
  plural

Etymology

Origin of hang glider

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hang glider hang-glider

The Helix is classified as a Part 103 ultralight aircraft, the same regulatory class as a hang glider.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2026

A duo of Cuban migrants were apprehended at Key West International Airport in Florida Saturday after flying there on a motorized hang glider.

From Washington Times ● Mar. 25, 2023

Newly presented is German aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal’s elegant Standard Glider, an antique version of the modern hang glider.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 6, 2022

Thirty-three years later, Johns is still flying his hang glider from Samish Overlook.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 11, 2021

Even Ron would tell anyone who’d listen about the time he’d almost hit a hang glider on Charlie’s old broom.

From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling

The motorized aircraft, also known as a trike, has a wing similar to a hang-glider and a three-wheel tricycle-style undercarriage.

From Seattle Times ● May 29, 2022

Mr O'Shea said: "There are some amazing pictures taken on the hills where you can see the production staff and that hang-glider in the background, just waiting to take off."

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2021

Perched on a bluff, it wasn’t a house so much as a hang-glider.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2017

And you’d have to go deep into the textbook to find out how to stop Julius Randle’s assortment of hang-glider baskets that have scouts salivating over his imminent jump to the N.B.A.

From New York Times ● Apr. 7, 2014

As soon as it was off I shoved the hang-glider with all the force I could muster towards the edge.

From The Revolutions of Time by Dunn, Jonathan