Levitation is the act of rising or floating in the air without any visible support. When something levitates, it hovers above the ground as if gravity has loosened its grip, defying our everyday experience that things fall down unless something holds them up.

The word appears most often in magic shows, where illusionists create the appearance of levitation using hidden wires, mirrors, or clever staging. A magician might seem to make an assistant levitate several feet off the stage, leaving audiences wondering how it's possible.

In science fiction and fantasy stories, characters sometimes possess the power of levitation, able to lift objects or even themselves through supernatural or telekinetic abilities. Scientists have also achieved real levitation in laboratories using powerful magnets or sound waves, making small objects float in carefully controlled conditions.

The verb form is levitate. You might say a magic trick made a ball levitate above the performer's hand, or describe how a hovercraft seems to levitate just above the water's surface. While true levitation without technological assistance remains impossible for humans, the word captures our fascination with the idea of floating free of the ground.