airliner
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of airliner
Explanation
If you've ever taken a trip that began or ended at an airport, then chances are that your journey included flying on an airliner — a big, commercial airplane that transports passengers across cities, countries, and continents. An airliner plays a crucial role in connecting people and places, making travel over long distances accessible and convenient. A nonstop trip from New York to Hawaii — a distance of more than 5,000 miles — can be made in about 12 hours on an airliner. Early airliners had spacious seats and legroom, along with amenities like piano lounges. Most of today's airliners have fewer amenities and more seats for paying passengers. Smaller airliners carry about 100–135 passengers, while larger airliners can carry up to about 850 passengers!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Boeing hasn’t built KC-135s since the 1960s, so the Air Force will most likely replace the lost plane with a KC-46 Pegasus, a tanker that is based on a modified 767 airliner.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026
“Superpower accelerates AI data center development by providing gigawatts of new capacity and advances the development and certification of the Overture supersonic airliner by providing engine reliability data,” the statement added.
From Barron's • Dec. 11, 2025
That compared with just over 5% in the company’s workhorse 747 airliner.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2025
The Blackhawk that went down recently near Washington D.C. when it collided with a commercial airliner was operating in a training exercise.
From Salon • Apr. 1, 2025
When he accelerated an alpha particle through the chamber to seed his make-believe clouds, it left a visible trail–like the contrails of a passing airliner.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
