hang glider

American  

noun

1. a kitelike glider consisting of a V -shaped wing underneath which the pilot is strapped: kept aloft by updrafts and guided by the pilot's shifting body weight.

---

hang-glider British  

noun

1. an unpowered aircraft consisting of a large cloth wing stretched over a light framework from which the pilot hangs in a harness, using a horizontal bar to control the flight

---

Other Word Forms

• hang-gliding noun

Etymology

Origin of hang glider

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Newly presented is German aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal’s elegant Standard Glider, an antique version of the modern hang glider.

From Washington Post • Oct. 6, 2022

From out of nowhere, a motorized hang glider whizzed above the crowd while Carn decorated a saucy, conga-rapping number with a chiming solo, with Younge orchestrating the dozen or so players on stage.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 28, 2022

You do learn, however, that he uses a raisin as a beanbag chair and a Dorito as a hang glider.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 23, 2022

Gravity A hang glider dropped his cell phone from a height of 350 feet.

From Textbooks • Apr. 22, 2020

Even Ron would tell anyone who’d listen about the time he’d almost hit a hang glider on Charlie’s old broom.

From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling