slipstreamn.
/ˈslɪpstriːm/, U.S. /ˈslɪpˌstrim/ 1.
a. The current of air or water driven backward by a propeller or downward by a rotor.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > current > [noun] > slipstream
slipstream1913
the world > matter > gas > air > moving air > [noun] > a movement of air > a current of air > downward current > deflected by aerofoil, etc.
slipstream1913
downwash1914
the world > matter > gas > air > moving air > [noun] > a movement of air > a current of air > rush of air caused by moving body > behind moving body
wake1851
wash1910
slipstream1913
wind-stream1929
1913 A. E. Berriman Aviation viii. 79 Each blade deflects air backwards as it moves; the combined effect of both blades operating always in the same region when the machine is standing still produces a concentrated flow of air, which becomes a very pronounced draught. Technically, this draught is called the slip stream.
1916 Fane in C. F. S. Gamble Story N. Sea Air Station xii. 198 I was right in the slipstream of her 5 engines which made the machine very difficult to control.
1919 Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (Royal Aeronaut. Soc.) 55 Air Scoop, a projecting cowl, which, by using the dynamic pressure of the relative wind or slip stream, serves to maintain air pressure in the interior of the envelope.
1920 Blackwood's Mag. Nov. 563/1 The roar of the Rolls-Royce deafened me, and the slip stream deafened me.
1920 Flight 12 663/2 In Italy the British method of supplying air to the ballonets through airscoops fitted in the slipstream of the propellers is never used.
1928 V. Pagé Mod. Aircraft 484 Slipstream, the stream of air driven astern by the propeller.
1935 Sun (Baltimore) 19 Jan. 9/2 The slip stream from the propeller cast bits of mud and ice into the air during the take-off.
1963 J. T. Rowland North to Adventure ix. 132 Her rudder was one of those absurd little metal plates which are utterly ineffective unless the slipstream from the propeller is impinging directly upon them.
1973 C. Bonington Next Horizon xiii. 190 The snow leapt up at me, and I was there, in one piece, with the slip-stream of the helicopter hammering at me.
b. Any localized current associated with an object, esp. a moving one.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > current > [noun] > slipstream > associated with moving object
slipstream1947
1947 in J. A. Carruth Loch Ness & its Monster (1950) 31 ‘We unmistakably sighted,’ said Mr. Cottier, ‘on the placid surface of the loch a fairly long slip-stream which quickly developed in length.’
1963 Times 8 June 5/2 He [sc. a cyclist] sat at the back, carried along in the slipstream of his adversaries, and so was the least tired rider when it came to the final sprint.
1973 ‘A. Hall’ Tango Briefing v. 62 The slipstream didn't cool anything: it just circulated the heat. There were gnats already sticking to the windscreen.
1974 M. Babson Stalking Lamb xxv. 183 The candles flared and died..leaving little slipstreams of smoke.
2. figurative. An assisting force considered to draw something along with or in the wake of the principal.
ΚΠ
1957 Universe 16 Aug. 4/2 The kaleidoscope of life which has moved with such tremendous upheavals..for the people caught up in its slipstream since 1933.
1961 Times 30 June 4/1 Sangster it was..who proved himself the leader, drawing in his slipstream Wilson.
1970 D. Mathew Courtiers of Henry VIII iii. vi. 203 They stood in contrast to all the slipstream of the modern State.
1980 Times 29 Feb. 1/2 Some of those who were trying to get into the slipstream behind the Labour Party.
Derivatives
ˈslipstream v. transitive, to follow closely behind (another vehicle) so that the resistance of the air to one's progress is less; also, to pass after travelling in another's slipstream.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > driving or operating a vehicle > drive a vehicle [verb (transitive)] > drive a motor vehicle > drive closely behind
slipstream1960
tailgate1967
1960 News Chron. 18 July 5/4 I planned to slip-stream him on the last lap.
1969 Man (Austral.) Mar. 43/1 If you are in near-equal machinery, it becomes a case..of slip-streaming an inch behind him and diving out for a pass at the vital moment.
1979 L. Pryor Viper viii. 156 I caught them on the pit straight as they slipstreamed each other on the left side of the road.
ˈslipstreaming n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > driving or operating a vehicle > [noun] > driving or operating a motor vehicle > in specific manner
overspeeding1888
left-hand drive1908
speeding1908
night-driving1909
hell-driving1936
drunk driving1937
slipstreaming1957
drink-driving1964
stunt-driving1975
1957 S. Moss In Track of Speed ii. 18 I tried for the first time the art of slip-streaming... What you do is to tuck in behind a faster car, so that you are more or less sucked along in the ‘partial vacuum’.
Draft additions December 2003
Literary Criticism. [Punningly after mainstream n. (see quot. 1989).] Fiction which, while not classified as science fiction, engages to some extent with scientific or futuristic subject matter, esp. such fiction regarded as constituting an identifiable genre; this genre of fiction. Chiefly attributive.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > science fiction, etc. > [noun] > other
K/S1978
slipstream1989
1989 B. Sterling in SF Eye July 78/2 ‘Slipstream’ is not all that catchy a term, and if this young genre ever becomes an actual category I doubt it will use that name, which I just coined along with my friend Richard Dorsett. ‘Slipstream’ is a parody of ‘mainstream’.
1992 Locus Aug. 11/3 ‘In Concert’ is a slipstream story about an amateur rock musician in Sevastopol trying to gain entry into the stadium.
2000 Edmonton (Alberta) Jrnl. (Nexis) 4 June e13 A selection from 25 years of her mainstream and slipstream short fiction.
2003 Re: UK uber Alles? in rec.arts.sf.written (Usenet newsgroup) 7 Mar. It's also worth noting that there are a bunch of noteworthy new US writers who are working more in fantasy/slipstream than in core SF.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1913