volplane

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English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Etymology

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From French vol plané (gliding flight).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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volplane (plural volplanes)

  1. A steep, controlled dive, especially by an aircraft with the engine off.

Verb

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volplane (third-person singular simple present volplanes, present participle volplaning, simple past and past participle volplaned)

  1. To perform a volplane.
    • 1916, Wilfred Percy ("Billie") Nevill, letter, in 1991, Ruth Elwin Harris (editor), Billie: The Nevill Letters, 1914-1916, Julia Macrae, page 143,
      [] when well over the bosche[sic – meaning Boche] lines & he volplaned home, just skimmed over our & the Bosche trenches, they all fired at him like sin, of course, and landed about 1000 yards back on a hill.
    • 1973, Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow:
      Curtains of vapor drift back to reveal the Americans, volplaning along well inside ten meters and only a little faster than the balloon.
  2. (of a bird or gliding animal) To glide.