vapour trail

British

noun

Also called: condensation trail. contrail. a visible trail left by an aircraft flying at high altitude or through supercold air, caused by the deposition of water vapour in the engine exhaust as minute ice crystals

"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

Example Sentences

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vapour trail

Instead it turned into a series of unfortunate events - with crisis comms appearing to be hit by its own crisis - leaving behind a vapour trail of confusion.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

The lower trail split in two and a new object quickly accelerated towards the other vapour trail until they crossed and a bright orange flash lit up the sky.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2024

As It Was is a vapour trail of a song, silvery and airborne, as Harry Styles searches for meaning amidst break-ups and loneliness and personal turmoil.

From BBC ● Dec. 30, 2022

Other new entries include the roll-like volutus, and contrails, clouds formed from the vapour trail of airplanes.

From BBC ● Mar. 22, 2017

Before she could calm him down, the horse disappeared, leaving a vapour trail through the ruins.

From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023