para·chute
ˈper-ə-ˌshüt 
ˈpa-rə-
1
: a device for slowing the descent of a person or object through the air that consists of a fabric canopy beneath which the person or object is suspended
2
: patagium
3
: a device or structure suggestive of a parachute in form, use, or operation
parachuted; parachuting
: to convey by means of a parachute
: to descend by means of a parachute
Examples of parachute in a Sentence
Noun
The pilot was wearing a parachute.
The supplies were dropped by parachute.
Verb
The soldiers parachuted in and quickly hid their gear.
New troops parachuted into enemy territory.
We will parachute supplies in after you arrive.
New troops were parachuted into enemy territory.
Recent Examples on the Web
Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024
That means the agency can’t pinpoint whether beavers still remain in the Chamberlain Basin parachute landing area.
—Nicole Blanchard, Idaho Statesman, 15 Apr. 2024
The Pentagon said Tuesday that three bundles of aid out of the 80 delivered during the US airdrop over Gaza Monday had landed in the sea after a parachute malfunction.
—Abdelqadder Sabbah, CNN, 27 Mar. 2024
Swift's dancers flowed onto the stage through fog with pink, purple and orange parachute flaps.
—Bryan West, USA TODAY, 17 Mar. 2024
After two days without food, Abu Fady Ramadan, a 40-year-old house painter, last week finally spotted an airdrop parachute descending not far from his home.
—Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Mar. 2024
After crossing the panhandle of Florida, now flying at just a few hundred miles per hour, small drogue parachutes inflated to stabilize the spacecraft followed by the four main chutes.
—William Harwood, CBS News, 12 Mar. 2024
Five Palestinians were killed in an airdrop on Friday when an apparent parachute malfunction caused a loaded crate to fall on some people, a civil defense spokesman in Gaza said.
—Adam Taylor, Washington Post, 12 Mar. 2024
The company also developed a new parachute system that meets NASA’s standards of safety.
—Passant Rabie / Gizmodo, Quartz, 23 Mar. 2024
Geoff Brumfiel, NPR, 25 Mar. 2024
Video surfaced on social media this week showing someone appearing to parachute off the skyscrapers.
—Alicia Victoria Lozano, NBC News, 15 Feb. 2024
The next step will be to install a better fence at the project, which is drawing significant police resources and where city leaders fear someone will die, especially after social media videos showed people BASE jumping — parachuting from the towers.
—John Antczak, Fortune, 17 Feb. 2024
Moore spoke after video of a man parachuting from the top of one of the towers went viral Monday, prompting an urgent safety warning from Mayor Karen Bass.
Video shared on Instagram appeared to show someone paragliding from the top of the towers.
—Patrick Smith, NBC News, 14 Feb. 2024
After leaving North Africa, Mr. Sadler was posted to an SAS training center in Scotland and then parachuted into France in 1944 after the D-Day invasion and took part in sabotage operations.
—Brian Murphy, Washington Post, 6 Jan. 2024
The actual flight capsule will parachute into the ocean south of San Diego, where a Navy recovery team will await them.
—Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Feb. 2024
Evidently authenticating the footage, Mayor Karen Bass confirmed to TV station NBC4 that people were seen parachuting off the building.
—Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 13 Feb. 2024
The idea is to build expertise in home countries rather than needing Americans to parachute in when problems are detected, which takes too long and smacks of colonialism.
—Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY, 1 Jan. 2024
Noun
As these thresholds near, the craft becomes agitated, with dinging alarms and colored alerts: yellow, or land soon; red, or land immediately; and purple, or pull the red knob to activate the whole-craft parachute.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024
That means the agency can’t pinpoint whether beavers still remain in the Chamberlain Basin parachute landing area.
—Nicole Blanchard, Idaho Statesman, 15 Apr. 2024
The Pentagon said Tuesday that three bundles of aid out of the 80 delivered during the US airdrop over Gaza Monday had landed in the sea after a parachute malfunction.
—Abdelqadder Sabbah, CNN, 27 Mar. 2024
Swift's dancers flowed onto the stage through fog with pink, purple and orange parachute flaps.
—Bryan West, USA TODAY, 17 Mar. 2024
After two days without food, Abu Fady Ramadan, a 40-year-old house painter, last week finally spotted an airdrop parachute descending not far from his home.
—Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Mar. 2024
After crossing the panhandle of Florida, now flying at just a few hundred miles per hour, small drogue parachutes inflated to stabilize the spacecraft followed by the four main chutes.
—William Harwood, CBS News, 12 Mar. 2024
Five Palestinians were killed in an airdrop on Friday when an apparent parachute malfunction caused a loaded crate to fall on some people, a civil defense spokesman in Gaza said.
—Adam Taylor, Washington Post, 12 Mar. 2024
The company also developed a new parachute system that meets NASA’s standards of safety.
—Passant Rabie / Gizmodo, Quartz, 23 Mar. 2024
Verb
Normally, this allows the balloon to float away, and the scientific equipment to parachute back to the ground, where it can be recovered.
—Geoff Brumfiel, NPR, 25 Mar. 2024
Video surfaced on social media this week showing someone appearing to parachute off the skyscrapers.
—Alicia Victoria Lozano, NBC News, 15 Feb. 2024
The next step will be to install a better fence at the project, which is drawing significant police resources and where city leaders fear someone will die, especially after social media videos showed people BASE jumping — parachuting from the towers.
—John Antczak, Fortune, 17 Feb. 2024
Moore spoke after video of a man parachuting from the top of one of the towers went viral Monday, prompting an urgent safety warning from Mayor Karen Bass.
Video shared on Instagram appeared to show someone paragliding from the top of the towers.
—Patrick Smith, NBC News, 14 Feb. 2024
After leaving North Africa, Mr. Sadler was posted to an SAS training center in Scotland and then parachuted into France in 1944 after the D-Day invasion and took part in sabotage operations.
—Brian Murphy, Washington Post, 6 Jan. 2024
The actual flight capsule will parachute into the ocean south of San Diego, where a Navy recovery team will await them.
—Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Feb. 2024
Evidently authenticating the footage, Mayor Karen Bass confirmed to TV station NBC4 that people were seen parachuting off the building.
—Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 13 Feb. 2024
The idea is to build expertise in home countries rather than needing Americans to parachute in when problems are detected, which takes too long and smacks of colonialism.
—Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY, 1 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'parachute.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near parachute
Cite this Entry
“Parachute.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parachute. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
parachute
1 of 2 noun
para·chute
ˈpar-ə-ˌshüt
1
: a folding umbrella-shaped device of light fabric used especially for making a safe jump from an aircraft
2
: something (as the bunch of hairs on a dandelion seed) that is like a parachute in form, use, or operation
parachute
2 of 2 verb
parachuted; parachuting
: to transport or come down by means of a parachute
parachutist
noun
-ˌshüt-əst
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