the sound barrier
noun
: the large increase in air resistance that occurs as an aircraft nears the speed of sound and that was once an obstacle to traveling faster than the speed of sound
a plane that is able to break the sound barrier
Examples of the sound barrier in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In his foreword, H. Lawrence Culp Jr, chairman and chief executive of General Electric, quotes approvingly another psychologist, Michael Gervais, who coached Felix Baumgartner, who in 2012 became the first skydiver to break the sound barrier in a jump that began 24 miles above the Earth’s surface.
—
Roger Trapp, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
Watch On Boom Supersonic plans to break the sound barrier during a test flight this morning (Jan. 28).
—Mike Wall, Space.com, 28 Jan. 2025
Scholl said this testing proved that the technology was capable of breaking the sound barrier without producing an audible shock wave, which was the issue that confined the Concorde to transatlantic flights only.
—Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 25 Mar. 2025
Past winners include the Wright brothers, the team behind the first aircraft to break the sound barrier, and the first moon landing in 1969.
—Natallie Rocha, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Mar. 2025
And in feats of speed, the demonstrator aircraft for America’s first civil supersonic jet broke the sound barrier for the first time earlier this year.
—Maureen O'Hare, CNN, 8 Mar. 2025
Image provided by Boom Supersonic and NASA shows XB-1 breaking the sound barrier for the second time.
—Kiki Intarasuwan, CBS News, 3 Mar. 2025
Join us and see XB-1 break the sound barrier from the viewpoint ...
—IEEE Spectrum, 8 Feb. 2025
The firm is able to avoid the noise by breaking the sound barrier at an altitude high enough that the sound is never able to reach the ground.
—Ben Kesslen, Quartz, 4 Mar. 2025
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Roger Trapp, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
Watch On Boom Supersonic plans to break the sound barrier during a test flight this morning (Jan. 28).
—Mike Wall, Space.com, 28 Jan. 2025
Scholl said this testing proved that the technology was capable of breaking the sound barrier without producing an audible shock wave, which was the issue that confined the Concorde to transatlantic flights only.
—Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 25 Mar. 2025
Past winners include the Wright brothers, the team behind the first aircraft to break the sound barrier, and the first moon landing in 1969.
—Natallie Rocha, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Mar. 2025
And in feats of speed, the demonstrator aircraft for America’s first civil supersonic jet broke the sound barrier for the first time earlier this year.
—Maureen O'Hare, CNN, 8 Mar. 2025
Image provided by Boom Supersonic and NASA shows XB-1 breaking the sound barrier for the second time.
—Kiki Intarasuwan, CBS News, 3 Mar. 2025
Join us and see XB-1 break the sound barrier from the viewpoint ...
—IEEE Spectrum, 8 Feb. 2025
The firm is able to avoid the noise by breaking the sound barrier at an altitude high enough that the sound is never able to reach the ground.
—Ben Kesslen, Quartz, 4 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“The sound barrier.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20sound%20barrier. Accessed 5 May. 2025.
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