Slipstream

//ˈslɪp.stɹiːm// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The low-pressure zone immediately following a rapidly moving object, caused by turbulence. countable, uncountable

    "Monza was the seventh race in a row at which Leclerc had out-qualified Vettel. There were extenuating circumstances this time - Vettel did not have a slipstream on his first lap and the farcical end to qualifying prevented him doing another - but a clear pattern is emerging."

  2. 2
    the flow of air that is driven backwards by an aircraft propeller wordnet
  3. 3
    A generated advantage which makes forward movement easier. broadly, countable, figuratively, uncountable

    "The Republicans, who in fact quintessentially represent what I understand to be private and special interests of a narrow economic kind, have nevertheless managed, flying in the slipstream of Ronald Reagan's rhetoric, to look like the true guardians of the nation's public interest."

  4. 4
    The relative wind experienced as a result of movement through air. countable, uncountable
  5. 5
    The airflow over a propeller-driven aircraft generated by the motion of its propeller(s). countable, uncountable
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  1. 6
    A genre of fantastic or non-realistic fiction that crosses conventional genre boundaries. uncountable

    "Slipstream is not simply a mixture of fantasy and realism, but something which lies between or even beyond the two."

Verb
  1. 1
    To take advantage of the suction produced by a slipstream by travelling immediately behind the slipstream generator.

    "Although dangerous, over-the-road truck drivers sometimes slipstream with each other to save fuel."

  2. 2
    To incorporate additional software (such as patches) into an existing installer. transitive

    "You do this by slipstreaming the updates into the distribution folder."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Compound of slip + stream. Fiction sense coined by cyberpunk author Bruce Sterling in 1989.

Etymology 2

Compound of slip + stream. Fiction sense coined by cyberpunk author Bruce Sterling in 1989.

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