self-soar

verb

To use the normal launching method for a hang glider.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbself-soar (third-person singular simple present self-soars, present participle self-soaring, simple past and past participle self-soared)

present singular third person self-soars · participle present self-soaring · participle past self-soared · past self-soared

  1. To use the normal launching method for a hang glider.

    Noted Swedish sailplane pilot Bengt Soderholm tries self-soaring for a change.

    1972, Popular Science, volume 200, number 6, page 94

Origin

From self- + soar. Many intrepid flyers joined the 70s' Self-Soar Association [S-SA] that had "Otto" memberships and membership numbers in honor of Otto Lilienthal who self-soared off a hill he had built. The booklet series Low & Slow and the Hang Glider Weekly (together 216 editions) frequently used the term self-soar to describe flying using an unpowered glider flown after launching by some system without the aid of motors or other persons.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

self-soar. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-soar

MLA

“self-soar.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-soar. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “self-soar,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-soar.

Source: self-soar on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.