Glideslope

//ˈɡlaɪdˌsloʊp// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The portion of an instrument landing system which provides vertical guidance to an aircraft during an approach to landing.

    "The constant angle of descent technique requires pilots to maintain a predetermined constant angle and constant rate of descent, which is generally calculated to be about 3°, except when terrain or an obstacle necessitates a steeper descent. When a ground-based glideslope signal is absent, pilots can fly the constant angle of descent approach by using flight management system (FMS) and GPS equipment for electronic guidance."

  2. 2
    The portion of an instrument landing system which provides vertical guidance to an aircraft during an approach to landing.; The vertical descent profile produced by the ILS glideslope transmitters. broadly

    "Staying on the glideslope is vitally important for a safe, stabilized approach and landing."

  3. 3
    The approach path of an aircraft as it comes in to land.

Example

More examples

"The constant angle of descent technique requires pilots to maintain a predetermined constant angle and constant rate of descent, which is generally calculated to be about 3°, except when terrain or an obstacle necessitates a steeper descent. When a ground-based glideslope signal is absent, pilots can fly the constant angle of descent approach by using flight management system (FMS) and GPS equipment for electronic guidance."

Etymology

Compound of glide + slope.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.