contrail
- noun
- /ˈkɒnˌtreɪl/
- Specialized
- You can easily see these so-called contrails on satellite imagery, and they extend for hundreds of miles.
- jet contrail
- white contrail
- airliner contrails
It tells you the mass of material that would be required to make that contrail.
- It tells you the mass of material that would be required to make that contrail.
Examples
-
Above and ahead, the first flight can be seen, still streaming contrails from its engines.
Fiction book (1990) -
There are gulls, contrails, and white clouds in a pale blue sky.
Blog text (12) -
Are you leaving a contrail?
-
A contrail would be dissipated by now!
-
People are certainly seeing a lot more contrails over the years because of increased traffic.
Blog text (8) -
Above him, some contrails from jets mark the sky.
Fiction book (2000) -
I regularly see all types of contrails, whether it is cloudy or not.
Blog text (8) -
Two hikers who witnessed the crash reported seeing a contrail or fiery tail... just before that helicopter went down.
-
I´ve been watching jets all my life and I know about jet contrails.
-
The blue sky was cloudless and empty of everything but the contrails of passing jets.
Synonyms
A thin white cloud that a plane leaves behind in the sky
How Visible
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Contrail is a short form of the phrase 'condensation trail', made from condensation ('water forming') and trail ('a line left behind'). So a contrail is literally the line of water a plane leaves in the sky.