fuselage
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of fuselage
1905–10; < French, equivalent to fusel ( é ) spindle-shaped (derivative of fuseau spindle; see fusee) + -age -age
Explanation
The main part of an airplane — the part in which you sit as a passenger — is called the fuselage. Your luggage rides in the fuselage, too. The word fuselage comes from the Latin fusus, or "spindle," which describes the tube shape of the central part of an airplane. Wings, tails, engines — these are all extra parts of the plane that attach to the fuselage. Different kinds of airplanes have different types of fuselages, depending on how fast they need to travel and what they carry, but a fuselage is always hollow and always has a cockpit at the front.
Vocabulary lists containing fuselage
Flying High: Aviation Words
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A Spelling Bee for Fun
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Hatchet
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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.
Arms researchers shown images and videos of the smaller drone’s components say its fuselage has been copied by dozens of Chinese companies even now selling similar models on China’s equivalent of Amazon, AliExpress.
From Los Angeles Times • May 24, 2026
Airbus is struggling to secure fuselage sections critical to the A350 from a plant in Kinston, North Carolina, which it bought from Spirit AeroSystems last year, Reuters said.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026
The company makes components for landing gear, wings and fuselage.
From Barron's • Mar. 19, 2026
Reuters, citing industry sources, reported an industrial-quality issue affecting fuselage panels of several dozen aircraft in the A320 family.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 1, 2025
It shattered, splitting from the fuselage with a loud rip.
From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss
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.
