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Glite Dictionary
🕳️ A vent hole ✈️ Sudden drop
air hole

air hole

6.5
A sudden area of falling air that makes a plane drop
  • noun
translation icon : bolsillo de aire
  • Turbulence was severe, and we dropped suddenly when we hit an air hole.

Examples

  • Pilots are trained to respond quickly when encountering an unexpected air hole during flight.

  • The plane shuddered as it passed through an air hole over the mountains.

  • An air hole can be dangerous.

  • The pilot quickly identified an air hole during the flight.

  • The plane suddenly dropped when it flew into an unexpected air hole during the storm.

  • As the aircraft entered the air hole, passengers felt a noticeable decrease in altitude.

  • Pilots know that navigating through an air hole can lead to a sudden loss of height.

Synonyms

air pocket
vsair hole
  • Specialized
7 5.3

A sudden drop of a plane caused by a small area of falling air

uses a general region term rather than stressing locality

Antonyms

lift
  • Specialized
30 6.1

The upward force on a wing that helps a plane fly

How Strong

downdraft
  • Specialized
5 7.1
air hole
6.5

Surface Forms

air hole singular
air holes plural

Morphology

air + hole

The compound 'air hole' is directly compositional: combining 'air' (the gas/airflow) + 'hole' (an opening) yields an opening that allows air to pass. This noun+noun construction is cross-linguistically common and follows a straightforward semantic combination, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Air hole comes from the image of an invisible hole in the air where the wind suddenly drops and a plane feels like it falls. Pilots use this simple picture to explain why an aircraft can lose height quickly, so the term means 'a patch of air that makes a plane lose height'.