slipstream

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The low-pressure zone immediately following a rapidly moving object, caused by turbulence.

   “Monza was the seventh race in a row at which Leclerc had out-qualified Vettel. There were extenuating circumstances this time - Vettel did not have a slipstream on his first lap and the farcical end to qualifying prevented him doing another - but a clear pattern is emerging.”

2. (broadly, countable, figuratively, uncountable)A generated advantage which makes forward movement easier.

   “The Republicans, who in fact quintessentially represent what I understand to be private and special interests of a narrow economic kind, have nevertheless managed, flying in the slipstream of Ronald Reagan's rhetoric, to look like the true guardians of the nation's public interest.”

3. (countable, uncountable)The relative wind experienced as a result of movement through air.
4. (countable, uncountable)The airflow over a propeller-driven aircraft generated by the motion of its propeller(s).
5. (uncountable)A genre of fantastic or non-realistic fiction that crosses conventional genre boundaries.

   “Slipstream is not simply a mixture of fantasy and realism, but something which lies between or even beyond the two.”

verb

1. To take advantage of the suction produced by a slipstream by travelling immediately behind the slipstream generator.

   “Although dangerous, over-the-road truck drivers sometimes slipstream with each other to save fuel.”

2. (transitive)To incorporate additional software (such as patches) into an existing installer.

   “You do this by slipstreaming the updates into the distribution folder.”

   “A better solution is to create a bootable Windows XP installation CD slipstreamed with the current service pack...”

   “It is illegal to distribute slipstreamed CDs. In some locales, it may also be illegal to create them.”