hovercraft

Etymology

From hover + -craft. Originally a trademark by Saunders-Roe Limited, a British aero- and marine-engineering company.

noun

1. (vehicles, genericized trademark) A vehicle supported on a cushion of air, able to traverse many different types of terrain and travel over water, used for transport.
   The snapshot shows the whale parallel above the water almost as if it’s competing in belly-flop contest, doing a midair plank or floating across the bay like a hovercraft. 24 July 2022, Morgan Krakow, “It began as a typical ferry ride in Kachemak Bay. Then a minke whale went airborne.”, in Anchorage Daily News