sonic boom

noun

Definition of sonic boom

: a sound resembling an explosion produced when a shock wave formed at the nose of an aircraft traveling at supersonic speed reaches the ground

— called also sonic bang

Examples of sonic boom in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Now there’s a proposal for the United States to do the same, using the might of the U.S. Air Force to fight America’s raging forest fires via bombs and sonic booms. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "Should the U.S. Air Force Bomb Forest Fires?," 8 Aug. 2018 Armed with missiles and a six-barrel cannon, and capable of flying at two-and-a-half times the speed of sound, the planes closed most of the distance to Sea-Tac in four minutes, creating a sonic boom on their way. — Matt Day, The Seattle Times, "“We were all screaming, ‘Oh my god’” : How the Horizon Air theft and crash unfolded," 12 Aug. 2018 But in the years since the Concorde’s retirement, Craig said researchers at NASA and elsewhere have made significant strides in mitigating sonic booms caused by supersonic and hypersonic craft. — Denise Chow /, NBC News, "Boeing's planned hypersonic airliner could fly from NYC to London in two hours," 28 June 2018 Sometimes, the gas winds collide with each other and produce shock waves that are similar to sonic booms. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "Scientists Made a 3D Simulation of the Center of the Milky Way," 11 Jan. 2018 On October 15, a sonic boom announced to the world that Green (backed by Noble) was now the fastest man on earth. — Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, "Bloodhound SSC: How do you build a car capable of 1,000mph?," 24 Nov. 2018 That's just the sonic boom of a rocket's first stage returning from space and landing for the first time, ever, at a site along the West Coast of California. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "SpaceX has landed on the West Coast for the first time [Updated]," 7 Oct. 2018 Photo: Boom Technology Scholl says the aircraft’s shape and size means its sonic booms won’t be as loud as Concorde’s. — Scott Mccartney, WSJ, "The Future of Flying: Flights Could Be Getting Much Shorter," 19 June 2018 The Concorde’s routes were limited in part because regulators barred supersonic travel over populated areas to protect people on the ground from hearing the loud sonic booms that the plane created. — Denise Chow /, NBC News, "Boeing's planned hypersonic airliner could fly from NYC to London in two hours," 28 June 2018

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