air pocketn.
/ˈɛː ˌpɒkɪt/, U.S. /ˈɛr ˌpɑkət/ 1. A cavity containing air.
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1878 Janesville (Wisconsin) Gaz. 8 Apr. This new and all important feature consists in an air pocket surrounding the ice reservoir.
1919 L. H. Morrison Oil Engines xxiv. 425 The discharge pipe..must be provided with a riser.., in order to prevent any air pockets and to allow all accumulations of steam or water vapor to escape.
1949 Lancet 28 May 903/2 Air injected into the lungs from a syringe, without much force, raises coalescing air pockets under the visceral pleura.
1986 J. A. Samson Trop. Fruits (ed. 2) iv. 45 To avoid air pockets, which might kill the roots, it is necessary to tamp the soil around the roots and to water well.
2006 Whitelines Feb. 126/3 If you do get buried (heaven forbid) your immediate reaction has to be to clear out an air-pocket in front of your face.
2.
a. A localized region of descending air, as a downdraught or sudden change of wind velocity, which causes an aircraft to lose height suddenly.
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the world > matter > gas > air > [noun] > air above our heads > deep hollow in
gulf1712
bump1909
air pocket1910
hole in the air1911
pocket1911
society > travel > air or space travel > specific movements or positions of aircraft > air as medium for operation of aircraft > [noun] > air-pocket
air pocket1910
hole in the air1911
1910 Times 13 June 8/5 He flew into what is known by airmen as an ‘air pocket’.
1933 Boys' Mag. 47 24/2 We shall probably bump a bit, owing to air-pockets.
1952 Sci. News Let. 13 Dec. 372/2 The captain was scooped up by the plane as it hit an air pocket. He entered by the same door by which he had so recently left.
1996 Woman's Day (Sydney) 3 June 20/1 The only time I felt a little adrenalin rush, though, was when we hit an air pocket—oh, and when the pilot took her hands off the bar to make a call on the radio!
b. figurative (chiefly Economics). A period of rapid or unexpected decline; a sharp or sudden downturn.In quot. 1913 as part of an extended metaphor.
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society > trade and finance > management of money > management of national resources > [noun] > political economy > states or trends of the economy
inflation1821
economic cycle1832
recovery1843
downdraught1852
perfect competition1853
downturn1858
softness1872
slump1888
downtrend1890
sag1891
under-consumption1895
recession1905
downdrift1906
economic recession1908
air pocket1913
stickiness1913
trough1916
deflation1920
downswing1922
slowdown1922
scissors1924
scissors crisis1925
uptrend1926
reflation1932
depresh1933
upswing1934
stagnation1938
countercycle1944
fiscal cliff1957
turn-down1957
stagflation1965
soft landing1973
slumpflation1974
downer1976
1913 Le Grand (Iowa) Reporter 17 Jan. ‘So you took a flyer in the stock market?’ ‘Yes,’ answered the regretful-looking man, ‘and hit an air pocket.’
1919 Los Angeles Times 29 Oct. ii. 9/1 Business struck an air pocket yesterday... About this time every month there is a slowing down tendency pending the striking of balances.
1977 Time 14 Nov. 32/1 Almost all of them fear that the economy will run into an air pocket during the second half of next year.
2001 R. Hill Dialogues of Dead (2002) vi. 54 Bowler's spirits hit an air pocket and sank as he contemplated taking something as airy-fairy as this to Andy Dalziel.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1878