skydiver

Everyday

A skydiver is a person who jumps out of an aeroplane high up, falls through the air, and then opens a parachute to land safely. tree →

In the lessons

Used in stories about adventure, sport and bravery; in science lessons with gravity, air resistance and parachutes; related: skydiving (the sport), skydive (verb).

Examples

• The skydiver leapt from the plane at four thousand metres. tree →
• Skydivers fall very fast before opening their parachutes. tree →
• My uncle is a skydiver and has done 200 jumps. tree →
• Air resistance slows the skydiver down. tree →
• The skydivers held hands in a circle in the sky. tree →
• A skydiver must check the parachute carefully before every jump. tree →

Note

Countable: a skydiver, skydivers. Science note: a skydiver speeds up only until air resistance balances gravity (terminal velocity); the parachute makes air resistance much bigger. Not the same as a «sky diver» in water (that is a «diver»).