Soaring Means Rising Without Flapping
To soar is to fly high without effort. Birds do it by riding rising air.
To soar is to fly or rise high, especially without apparent effort. The technical meaning is precise: soaring is flight that gains height without flapping, by riding air that is itself rising. A vulture circling for hours is not conserving energy through skill alone but sitting in a thermal — a column of warm air lifting faster than the bird sinks through it. The word is Old French *essorer*, from Latin *ex aura*, out into the air.
- To fly high. *Eagles soaring.*
- To rise sharply. *Prices soared.*
- To rise without flapping. *Soaring flight.*
- Thermal — rising air. *A thermal.*
- Latin — *ex aura*, into the air. *The root.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | soar | Soaring. |
| Past | soared | Soared. |
| Adjective | soaring | Soaring. |
| Related | aura | An aura. |
| Old French | essorer | To rise into air. |
- The eagle soared overhead.Flight.
- Costs soared last year.Figurative.
- Thermals lift the bird.Physics.
Kinds of soaring
- Thermal soaring — circling in a column of rising warm air
- Ridge soaring — riding air deflected upward by a slope
- Dynamic soaring — exploiting wind speed differences, used by albatrosses
- Wave soaring — riding standing waves downwind of mountains
- Gliders use all four in the same way birds do
Old French *essorer*, to expose to air, from Latin *ex aura*, out into the air.
What is the difference between soaring and gliding?
Gliding loses height steadily; soaring gains or keeps height by riding air that is rising faster than the bird sinks.
How do albatrosses fly so far without flapping?
By dynamic soaring, exploiting the difference in wind speed between the sea surface and the air above it.