trailing edge

American  

noun

Aeronautics.

1. the rear edge of a propeller blade or airfoil.

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trailing edge British  

noun

1. the rear edge of a propeller blade or aerofoil Compare leading edge

2. physics the edge of a pulse signal as its amplitude falls

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Etymology

Origin of trailing edge

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

After offloading a “poop shot,” the eagle flew off — revealing a gap in the feathers on the trailing edge of its left wing, Steers wrote in a Facebook post about the incident.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 4, 2025

First, the fringes reduce the fluctuations in airflow by breaking up the trailing edge vortices.

From Science Daily • Jan. 23, 2024

Hesselink of ING predicted that most Chinese chip makers will now opt to focus on "trailing edge" or production of chips using slightly older technology.

From Reuters • Mar. 9, 2023

The auxiliary spar is the trailing edge of the elevator, which flaps up or down to move the nose of the plane up or down.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 7, 2022

The trailing edge of the main was luffing a bit and he sheeted it in to clean the line up.

From "The Voyage Of The Frog" by Gary Paulsen