fugoid

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A form of phugoid — Of the motion of an aircraft, missile, or other flying object: continuously oscillating in a vertical plane due to the object pitching up and climbing, thus slowing down; then pitching down and descending, thus speeding up.

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Meanings

nounfugoid (plural fugoids)

plural fugoids

  1. alternativeAlternative spelling of phugoid.

    As well as physical debris, the report drew on recent analysis by Australian defense scientists of burst frequency signals from Flight 370 to satellites that indicated the aircraft had been descending fast, likely in an automated series of swooping dives called fugoids.

    2016 November 2, Rob Taylor, “Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 likely in steep dive before crash”, in The Wall Street Journal, New York, N.Y.: Dow Jones & Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 Mar 2023
Cite this entry
APA

fugoid. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fugoid

MLA

“fugoid.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fugoid. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fugoid,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fugoid.

Source: fugoid on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.