Definition of "parachute" []

• An apparatus used to retard free fall from an aircraft, consisting of a light, usually hemispherical canopy attached by cords to a harness and worn or stored folded until deployed in descent. (noun)
• Any of various similar unpowered devices that are used for retarding free-speeding or free-falling motion. (noun)
• To drop (supplies or troops, for example) by means of a parachute. (verb-transitive)
• To descend by means of a parachute. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "We will give people t-shirts and parachute men painted gold because McGavick is getting a �golden parachute� with the $4.5 million in stock options he is getting from Safeco Insurance."
• "The term parachute almost makes it seem like there's some sort of financial salvation out there for everyone."
• "Like most aspects of early hip-hop, these baggy pants were appropriated into mainstream culture, where the term parachute expanded to describe the large amount of fabric used for them."