propeller

[ pruh-pel-er ]

noun

1. a device having a revolving hub with radiating blades, for propelling an airplane, ship, etc.
2. a person or thing that propels.
3. the bladed rotor of a pump that drives the fluid axially.
4. a wind-driven, usually three-bladed, device that provides mechanical energy, as for driving an electric alternator in wind plants.

propeller

/ prəˈpɛlə /

noun

1. a device having blades radiating from a central hub that is rotated to produce thrust to propel a ship, aircraft, etc
2. a person or thing that propels

propeller

/ prə-pĕl′ər /

1. A device consisting of a set of two or more twisted, airfoil-shaped blades mounted around a shaft and spun to provide propulsion of a vehicle through water or air, or to cause fluid flow, as in a pump. The lift generated by the spinning blades provides the force that propels the vehicle or the fluid—the lift does not have to result in an actual upward force; its direction is simply parallel to the rotating shaft.

Word History and Origins

Origin of propeller¹

First recorded in 1770–80; propel + -er ¹

Example Sentences

Children have fantasy lives so rich and combustible that rigging them with lies is like putting a propeller on a rocket.

From The Daily Beast

“You think of something military, hostile, weaponized,” not the tiny four-propeller aircrafts used by hobbyists and researchers.

From The Daily Beast

The triangle is “like a rubber band wound up in a toy propeller,” Turner says.

From The Daily Beast

The propeller to be worked by this novel engine was of course his long-idle screw.

From Project Gutenberg

It was a fourteen-horse-power engine, water-cooled, and geared with a chain to the propeller.

From Project Gutenberg

The next moment the engine began to throb regularly, and the blades of the propeller whirled.

From Project Gutenberg

The big propeller-wings began to beat the air, and the sound rose to a keen buzzing.

From Project Gutenberg

Swift and straight she flew and suddenly Chet roared to Lance to shut down, and the propeller groaningly stopped.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• screw