hang glider

noun

|Updated on: 10 Jun 2018

Definition of hang glider

: a kitelike glider from which a harnessed rider hangs while gliding down from a cliff or hill

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hang glide

intransitive verb

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hang gliding

noun

See hang glider defined for English-language learners

See hang glider defined for kids

Recent Examples of hang glider from the Web

The second day of a weekend airshow at a U.S. Air Force base in southwestern Idaho has been dedicated to the veteran hang glider pilot who died in Saturday's crash.

— Fox News, "Sunday's air show to honor glider pilot who died in crash," 3 June 2018
June 2, 2018 Buchanan suffered a spinal injury in 1981 while landing a hang glider in bad weather.

— john sowell, idahostatesman, "Hang glider pilot who died at Mountain Home Air Force Base was an air show veteran," 2 June 2018
Seacliff, at the bottom of Aptos’s steep bluffs, has a far busier vibe than Sunset, with a snack shop right on the beach and hang gliders swooping overhead.

— San Francisco Chronicle, "The 5 best bike rides around Santa Cruz," 11 Apr. 2018
This is also home to Torrey Pines Gliderport, where hang gliders and paragliders launch from a seaside perch.

— keli dailey, San Francisco Chronicle, "One Day, One Place: On the waterfront in San Diego," 3 Jan. 2018
They’ve even been known to harass the occasional human in a hang glider.

— mike cherney, WSJ, "Bold Eagles: Angry Birds Are Ripping $80,000 Drones Out of the Sky," 29 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hang glider.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Illustration of hang glider

First Known Use of hang glider

1930

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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HANG GLIDER Defined for English Language Learners

hang glider

noun

Definition of hang glider for English Language Learners

: a small aircraft that consists of a metal frame covered with strong cloth and that is flown through the air by a person who hangs beneath it; also : a person who flies a hang glider