Looping the Loop
Preserved but no longer current.
The airman's term for the evolution which consists of describing a perpendicular circle in the air; at the top of the circle, or "loop," the airman and the aeroplane are, of course, upside down. The term comes from a kind of switchback that used to be popular at fairs, etc., in which a rapidly moving car or bicycle performed a similar evolution on a perpendicular circular track.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Looping the Loop” mean?
The airman's term for the evolution which consists of describing a perpendicular circle in the air; at the top of the circle, or "loop," the airman and the aeroplane are, of course, upside down. The term comes from a kind of switchback that used to be popular at fairs, etc., in which a rapidly moving car or bicycle performed a similar evolution on a perpendicular circular track.
Is “Looping the Loop” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.