parachute

noun

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para·chute | \ ˈper-ə-ˌshüt

, ˈpa-rə- \

Definition of parachute

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : a device for slowing the descent of a person or object through the air that consists of a fabric canopy beneath which the person or object is suspended

2 : patagium

3 : a device or structure suggestive of a parachute in form, use, or operation

parachute

verb

parachuted; parachuting

Definition of parachute (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

: to convey by means of a parachute

intransitive verb

: to descend by means of a parachute

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Examples of parachute in a Sentence

Noun The pilot was wearing a parachute. The supplies were dropped by parachute. Verb The soldiers parachuted in and quickly hid their gear. New troops parachuted into enemy territory. We will parachute supplies in after you arrive. New troops were parachuted into enemy territory.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Stellar nights of unparalleled brilliance dialed up to a billion, soaring upwards and outwards, past the point of no return, not a drop of energy for the journey back, no parachute for the descent. — Raven Smith, Vogue, "On Katy Perry's Bathroom Selfie and Forgotten Pleasure of Going Out-Out," 7 Apr. 2021 And on the parachute side, there’s been a lot of progress, the agency said in the update. — Elizabeth Howell, Forbes, "Mars Rover Addresses Parachute Damage Problem That Delayed Launch To 2022," 5 Mar. 2021 None of the 2-mile-long parachute line system tangled. — Jennifer Leman, Popular Mechanics, "Watch the Jaw-Dropping Moment When Perseverance Lands on Mars," 22 Feb. 2021 The high-quality footage shows the rover’s parachute being deployed before its heat shield is dropped away. — Zachary Halaschak, Washington Examiner, "NASA releases first audio from Mars and video of Perseverance rover landing," 22 Feb. 2021 Police have identified the person who died after jumping off a condo balcony with a parachute as a 31-year-old Panama City Beach man. — Leada Gore | Lgore@al.com, al, "Police identify man who died jumping from Panama City Beach balcony with a parachute," 23 Mar. 2021 In addition to the airframe parachute that was already standard in the first generation, the G2 introduced a home button, which Cirrus calls the Safe Return system, based on Garmin’s Autoland technology. — Daniel Bachmann, Robb Report, "The Cirrus G2 Vision, the World’s Most Popular Jet, Can Fly You Home With The Push of a Button," 23 Mar. 2021 Police identified the man who died in the parachute fall as 31-year-old Timothy Ackerman of Panama City Beach. — Curt Anderson, Star Tribune, "Deadly spring break: 3 men charged in 2 deaths in Florida," 23 Mar. 2021 The Air Force recovers the drones, either by boat rescues or through a parachute recovery system, as the drones can be repaired, tested and reused, according to the Air Force. — Shirin Ali, CNN, "An Air Force training drone washed ashore on a Florida beach," 22 Mar. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb On April 11, Barnes and engineer Howard Bolin took off from La Presa, but were forced to parachute to safety after a vent on the balloon jammed. — Merrie Monteagudo, San Diego Union-Tribune, "From the Archives: Record hot air balloon journey started at Coronado 55 years ago," 9 Apr. 2021 Dead stars Jolie as the smoke jumper Hannah — one of the expert firefighters trained to parachute into a blaze. — Devan Coggan, EW.com, "Angelina Jolie ignites in first look at Taylor Sheridan's Those Who Wish Me Dead," 6 Apr. 2021 Once their job was done, both men would parachute from the airplane to safety. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "The U.S. Once Turned B-17 Bombers Into Actual Bombs. It Didn't Go Well.," 14 Jan. 2021 The capsule will fall through Earth’s atmosphere at 27,700 miles per hour, protected by a thick heat shield, and parachute to a landing zone at the Utah Test and Training Range. — Chris Wright, Wired, "How NASA Scrambled to Save OSIRIS-REx From Leaky Disaster," 16 Dec. 2020 Noem is the latest in a string of potential presidential contenders to parachute into Georgia, where the GOP can only afford to lose one seat and still preserve its Senate majority. — David M. Drucker, Washington Examiner, "Kristi Noem latest potential 2024 presidential candidate to campaign in Georgia," 9 Dec. 2020 While Pence is the most well-known so far in a slew of high-profile Republicans to parachute into Georgia in the past month, the biggest name of all returns Saturday. — Paul Steinhauser, Fox News, "GOP anticipation builds ahead of Trump's Georgia rally," 6 Dec. 2020 The nurses parachute into cities like New York, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Green Bay for weeks or months at a time, quickly learning the ways of a new hospital and trying to earn the trust of the existing staff. — New York Times, "As Hospitals Fill, Travel Nurses Race to Virus Hot Spots," 2 Dec. 2020 The Guardian Angels separately parachute out to the boats, inflate those requiring inflation, and move to the capsule. — Washington Examiner, "Space Force’s Guardian Angels: The crack squad that keeps astronauts alive if things go wrong," 20 Nov. 2020

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

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Last Updated

11 Apr 2021

Cite this Entry

“Parachute.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parachute. Accessed 14 Apr. 2021.

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More Definitions for parachute

parachute

noun

English Language Learners Definition of parachute

(Entry 1 of 2)

: a piece of equipment usually made of cloth that is fastened to people or things and that allows them to fall slowly and land safely after they have jumped or been dropped from an aircraft

parachute

verb

English Language Learners Definition of parachute (Entry 2 of 2)

: to jump from an aircraft using a parachute

: to drop (someone or something) from an aircraft using a parachute

See the full definition for parachute in the English Language Learners Dictionary

parachute

noun

para·chute | \ ˈper-ə-ˌshüt