Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
jet stream

jet stream

14 3.7
A narrow band of very fast winds high in the sky that affect weather
  • noun
  • /ˈdʒɛt strim/
  • Specialized
translation icon : corriente en chorro
  • We're talking about a shift in the jet stream, cold fronts, and warm fronts.

It is a jet stream, just like the polar jet stream we have here on the Earth.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • A NASA illustration showing the jet stream flowing across North America.

    Blog text (25)

  • A change in the position of the jet stream can lead to severe storms in various regions.

  • And this is where the jet stream goes around the world in the north, and it goes around the world in the South.

  • I have never seen the jet stream so far north for so long.

    Blog text (25)

  • The reason for the cool weather along the coast has been due to the jet stream position.

    Blog text (30)

  • The current wave of cold weather in the South is just following the jet stream.

    Blog text (25)

  • The pattern seems to like the jet stream staying north this season.

    Blog text (15)

  • The snow continued, a confluence, the TV explained, of a south sweep of the jet stream and warm moist air off the Atlantic.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Meteorologists refer to the peaks in the jet stream as "ridges" and the dips as "troughs."

    Blog text (25)

  • Vigorous extratropical cyclones follow a strengthened subtropical jet stream into Southern California during some El Niño years.

    Academic text (1994)

Synonyms

airstream
vsjet stream
1 4.2

A steady current of air that moves across a region

is a narrow high altitude fast wind band that strongly affects weather

Antonyms

calm air
  • Specialized
2.7

A time with very little or no wind that makes the air still

How Fast

jet stream
  • Specialized
14 3.7
gale
24 5.8
wind
∞ 1.0
to breeze
1 1.0

Surface Forms

jet stream singular
jet streams plural

Morphology

jet + stream

The meaning 'a narrow band of strong, high-speed winds' is directly inferable from combining 'jet' (a narrow, forceful stream) with 'stream' (a flow), so a learner who knows both words can reasonably guess this refers to a fast, narrow flow of air. The construction follows regular English compounding and has clear cross-linguistic analogues (e.g., Spanish 'corriente en chorro'), supporting immediate comprehension at B1.

Etymology

The noun jet stream comes from the picture of a very fast 'stream' of air high above the ground, where jet suggests great speed and stream is like a river of wind. That's why it means a narrow band of strong winds that moves weather and can help planes go faster.