Meanings
nounmicroburst (plural microbursts)
plural microbursts
- climatologyA strong downdraft, of less than 2.5 miles in diameter, that can cause damaging winds and powerful wind shear.
This resulted in the aircraft’s encounter at low altitude with a microburst-induced, severe wind shear from a rapidly developing thunderstorm located on the final approach course.
1986 August 15, National Transportation Safety Board, “Synopsis”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Delta Air Lines, Inc., Lockheed L-1011-385-1, N726DA, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Texas, August 2, 1985, archived from the original on 18 Mar 2021, page 1
Origin
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 微下擊暴流 /微下击暴流
- 微下擊暴流 /微下击暴流 (wēixiàjībàoliú)strong downdraft
Finnish mikropurkaus
- mikropurkausstrong downdraft
French microrafale
- microrafalestrong downdraft
Portuguese microexplosão
- microexplosãostrong downdraft
Cite this entry
APA
microburst. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/microburst
MLA
“microburst.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/microburst. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “microburst,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/microburst.
Source: microburst on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.