ground loop

noun

A (usually unwanted) current that flows between two points that are meant to be at the same potential, but are not.

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Meanings

nounground loop (plural ground loops)

plural ground loops

  1. businessA (usually unwanted) current that flows between two points that are meant to be at the same potential, but are not.
  2. aeronauticsA sudden, potentially damaging turn made by an aircraft while on the ground, owing to user error or adverse weather conditions.
verbground loop (third-person singular simple present ground loops, present participle ground looping, simple past and past participle ground looped)

present singular third person ground loops · participle present ground looping · participle past ground looped · past ground looped

  1. aeronauticsTo suffer a ground loop manoeuvre.

    I slewed into the deep grass, throttled up again to regain runway speed, tried to abort the take-off and ground-looped through the perimeter fence.

    2000, JG Ballard, Super-Cannes, Fourth Estate, published 2011, page 41

Translations

French cheval de bois
  • cheval de boisa sudden, potentially damaging turn made by an aircraft
Cite this entry
APA

ground loop. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ground%20loop

MLA

“ground loop.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ground%20loop. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ground loop,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ground%20loop.

Source: ground loop on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.