bow shock.

A shock front formed ahead of an obstacle when the incoming flow outruns the relevant waves in that medium.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a planetary bow shock
• a bow shock in plasma

On the page

The solar wind changed abruptly across the planetary bow shock.

The simulation showed a bow shock ahead of the obstacle in the plasma flow.

Usage notes

Primary category: sci-fi. Forms: Singular bow shock; plural bow shocks. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.