slipstream
verb
- to drive in the slipstream of a vehicle; draft
- to travel in the slipstream of (someone), especially in order to overtake them
noun
- a stream of fluid (such as air or water) driven aft by a propeller
- an area of reduced air pressure and forward suction immediately behind a rapidly moving vehicle
- an assisting force regarded as drawing something along behind something else
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈslɪp.stɹiːm/
noun
Etymology: Compound of slip + stream. Fiction sense coined by cyberpunk author Bruce Sterling in 1989.
- The low-pressure zone immediately following a rapidly moving object, caused by turbulence.
“Monza was the seventh race in a row at which Leclerc had out-qualified Vettel. There were extenuating circumstances this time - Vettel did not have a slipstream on his first lap and the farcical end to qualifying prevented him doing another - but a clear pattern is emerging.”
- A generated advantage which makes forward movement easier.
“The Republicans, who in fact quintessentially represent what I understand to be private and special interests of a narrow economic kind, have nevertheless managed, flying in the slipstream of Ronald Reagan's rhetoric, to look like the true guardians of the nation's public interest.”
- The relative wind experienced as a result of movement through air.
- The airflow over a propeller-driven aircraft generated by the motion of its propeller(s).
- A genre of fantastic or non-realistic fiction that crosses conventional genre boundaries.
“Slipstream is not simply a mixture of fantasy and realism, but something which lies between or even beyond the two.”
verb
Etymology: Compound of slip + stream. Fiction sense coined by cyberpunk author Bruce Sterling in 1989.
- To take advantage of the suction produced by a slipstream by travelling immediately behind the slipstream generator.
“Although dangerous, over-the-road truck drivers sometimes slipstream with each other to save fuel.”
- To incorporate additional software (such as patches) into an existing installer.
“You do this by slipstreaming the updates into the distribution folder.”
“A better solution is to create a bootable Windows XP installation CD slipstreamed with the current service pack...”