I. ˈsō(ə)r, ˈsȯ(ə)r, -ōə, -ȯ(ə) verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English soren, from Middle French essorer to expose to the air for drying, throw up in the air, soar, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin exaurare to expose to the air, from Latin ex- ex- (I) + aura air — more at aura
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to mount on wings : fly aloft or about
larks soaring into the sky
birds soared lower and settled on rooftops — Joseph Hitrec
— often used with away
an early gull rose from the water … and soared away into the murk — Nevil Shute
b.
(1) : to sail or hover in the air often at a great height : glide
vultures soaring above the plain
a few lilac-colored clouds soared overhead — G.A.Wagner
(2) of a glider : to fly without engine power and by means of ascending air currents without loss of altitude
2. : to go or move upward in position or status : rise
the final rocket … soared twice as high — Jan Struther
soared in his sophomore year to an eastern record — Eddie Beachler
his reputation soaring to its zenith — O.S.Nock
the thermometer soared up past the century mark — Sydney (Australia) Bulletin
up from the eastern sea soars the delightful day — A.E.Housman
3. : to ascend to a higher or more exalted level : to go beyond earthly or mean things or considerations : transcend
young soaring imaginations — John Reed
his soaring idealism — H.S.Commager
his spirit soared — Stephen Crane
a man whose desires soared beyond one room — Robertson Davies
— often used with above
soared above the troubles of ordinary people — Marchette Chute
soar above the facts — A.L.Guérard
4.
a. : to rise to an imposing or majestic stature or height : tower
mountainsides … soar 3000 feet from the floor of the narrow valleys — M.J.Herskovits
half-grown oaks and soaring poplars — J.A.G.Hungerford
soldiers filling the impressive square before the soaring pillars and broad steps — Irwin Shaw
b. : to go or move to such a height : climb
soaring chairs and tramways of all sorts — William Gilman
the motorist can be soaring 284 feet above the ground at one point and boring through a tunnel … 30 seconds later — Richard Thruelsen
5. : to increase to an uncommon or unprecedented level or amount
unemployment was soaring — N.M.Clark
food prices continued to soar — Current History
soaring hospital costs — Clarence Axman
6.
a. : to sing or play usually in the higher ranges in an impressive or moving fashion
a soprano voice soaring ecstatically above the orchestra — Dyneley Hussey
the welling up of that climactic soaring of symbolic song — Claudia Cassidy
soared effortlessly through two choruses — H.A.Sinclair
b. : to rise to a high and usually moving pitch and cadence
no matter what soaring of verbal eloquence — Leslie Rees
terse and rich in dialogue … the prose soars in those amazing apostrophes — Douglas Stewart
7. : to move or go at a high rate of speed
soared down that road leaving a trail of dust behind — Frederick Way
any skier who had soared down a slope — Ford Times
transitive verb
1. archaic : to lift oneself high in (flight)
whether thy soul soars fancy's flights beyond the pole — Robert Burns
2. archaic : to ascend to or hover through (a height)
soaring the air — John Milton
Synonyms: see rise
II. noun
( -s )
1. : the range, distance, or height attained in soaring
such soars of fancy
2. : the act of soaring : upward flight
the soar of a lark
the soar of song and verse