mach

CEFRB2

/mɑːk/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A measure of speed compared with the speed of sound.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A ratio of the speed (of an object, etc.) to the speed of sound in the fluid or other medium through which the object travels. Usually used to describe supersonic speeds; always precedes the Mach number.

Examples

  • Mach stands for the speed of sound.

  • The maximum cruising speed of this airplane is Mach 3.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist (1838–1916), born in Moravia (now Czech Republic).

  2. A unit for measuring speed relative to the speed of sound.

More examples

In context

  • Thomas is built like a Mach truck.

  • The jet traveled at Mach 3.

  • The 1992 review concluded that Machs are generally less satisfied with their jobs.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

During the test flight, the new fighter jet flew at blank 2 for several minutes.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

* As a Polish, Czech, Slovak, Ukrainian, and Lower Sorbian surname, from pet forms produced by truncation of personal names beginning with Ma- such as Matej, Martin, or Maciej, and the addition of the Slavic suffix -ch. * As a Jewish surname, from German Mache (“work”). * Less commonly, a respelling of Hungarian Mács, a pet form of names corresponding to Matthew. * In some cases, from Vietnamese (Mạch, itself from the Chinese name 麥 /麦) or Cambodian, from Khmer ម៉ាច (maac).