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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Allowing Andrew to voluntarily give up his titles, which theoretically remain in place, gave him a way out, still holding on to a little of the disappearing vapour trail of his pride.

From BBC • Oct. 17, 2025

This year the Red Arrows went green as they used a more environmentally friendly blend of fuel, including sustainable aviation fuel and a biofuel for the trademark vapour trail.

From BBC • Jun. 14, 2025

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

At first I thought she was still staring at the boat, but then I saw her gaze was on the vapour trail of a plane in the far distance, climbing slowly into the sky.

From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro

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