sonic boom
noun
: 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
SpaceX has warned that residents in the Bahamas may hear one or more sonic booms during the first-stage landing.
—
Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 15 Aug. 2025
The National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Georgia, also received reports of what felt like earthquakes, but was most likely sonic booms, a quick, thunder-like sound that is created when aircraft, like rockets and planes, go faster than the speed of sound.
—Julia Gomez, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2025
In 2017, Orlando residents could hear the sonic boom from during its fifth mission’s atmospheric reentry.
—Andrew Paul Jul 30, Popular Science, 30 July 2025
Aside from seeing the event, many also heard and felt a sonic boom around the same time, which some locals mistook for an earthquake.
—Elizabeth Gamillo, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 July 2025
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Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 15 Aug. 2025
The National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Georgia, also received reports of what felt like earthquakes, but was most likely sonic booms, a quick, thunder-like sound that is created when aircraft, like rockets and planes, go faster than the speed of sound.
—Julia Gomez, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2025
In 2017, Orlando residents could hear the sonic boom from during its fifth mission’s atmospheric reentry.
—Andrew Paul Jul 30, Popular Science, 30 July 2025
Aside from seeing the event, many also heard and felt a sonic boom around the same time, which some locals mistook for an earthquake.
—Elizabeth Gamillo, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for sonic boom
Cite this Entry
“Sonic boom.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sonic%20boom. Accessed 25 Aug. 2025.
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