noun
contrail
KAHN-trayl/ˈkɑːntreɪl/
A visible trail of condensed water left in the sky by an aircraft.
A white contrail stretches across the blue sky behind the jet.
Etymology
Short for “condensation trail,” this word names the white line of ice crystals behind a moving aircraft, linking the visible streak to condensation.
In context
because they see a contrail being formed and then hours later it's still there and sometimes it's growing
More examples
- Two contrails cross high above the city.
- The plane disappears, but its contrail remains visible.
- The wind spreads the contrail into a thin, cloudlike band.
Forms
contrail · contrails
Similar words
- condensation trail
- The full term, explicitly naming the process that produces it.