preflight

English

Etymology

From pre- +‎ flight.

Adjective

preflight (not comparable)

1. Taking place before the start of a flight.
2. (computing) Serving to confirm that requests can be accepted, before sending an actual request.

   a CORS preflight request

Noun

preflight (plural preflights)

1. An inspection of an aircraft before the start of a flight.
2. (gymnastics) The portion of the movement after launching from the springboard but before pushing off the vault.
   • 2024 July 27, Maggie Astor, “Your Guide to Olympic Gymnastics: Vault”, in The New York Times‎, archived from the original on 31 July 2024:

     Between the preflight and postflight is the block, a rapid motion in which the gymnast’s hands hit the vault and she pushes herself off, converting the horizontal momentum from her sprint down the runway into vertical momentum.

Verb

preflight (third-person singular simple present preflights, present participle preflighting, simple past and past participle preflighted)

1. To perform an inspection of an aircraft before the start of a flight.

See also

• foreflight