overflight

[ oh-ver-flahyt ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

an air flight that passes over a specific area, country, or territory:
Overflights of foreign aircraft are closely monitored.

overflight

/ ˈəʊvəˌflaɪt /

noun

the flight of an aircraft over a specific area or territory

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Word History and Origins

Origin of overflight¹

1590–1600 as pertaining to the flight of birds; 1955–60 for current sense; over- + flight ¹

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Example Sentences

NASA does not currently have any spacecraft surveilling Europa, but it does make regular airplane overflights of Greenland, taking pictures and radar soundings of the ice to study the effects of climate change.

From Time

Everyone has access to this shared resource, and the principles of freedom of the sea include the freedom of navigation, freedom of overflight, freedom to lay cables underneath, freedom of fishing.

From MIT Technology Review

In one prominent example, legislators and environmental groups have struggled with the FAA and NPS for nearly two decades to establish overflight rules in the Grand Canyon.

From Outside Online

The spies and the generals want to deny the Russians the overflight rights for its latest surveillance planes.

From The Daily Beast

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