windsock

Or wind sock

[wind-sok]

noun

1. a tapered, tubular cloth vane, open at both ends and having at the larger end a fixed ring pivoted to swing freely, installed at airports or elsewhere to indicate wind direction and approximate intensity.

windsock

/ ˈwɪndˌsɒk /

noun

1. Also called: air sock.  drogue.  wind sleeve.  wind cone. a truncated cone of textile mounted on a mast so that it is free to rotate about a vertical axis: used, esp at airports, to indicate the local wind direction

Word History and Origins

Origin of windsock¹

First recorded in 1925–30; wind ¹ + sock ¹

Example Sentences

For one of McKay’s major numbers, a blow-up windsock man you might see promoting a business on the side of a freeway was an unexpected inspiration.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The architecture knocks one’s socks off, and the place runs rife with eateries, drinkeries, bookstores and shops for all your dreamcatcher and windsock needs.

Read more on Seattle Times

I was in nylon, feeling like a windsock.

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"The airport’s windsock was horizontal and the aircraft was being rocked from side to side by the wind," Thomson added.

Read more on Fox News

And at the top of the final jump, a bright red windsock stuck straight out almost all afternoon.

Read more on Washington Post