zeppelin

¹ American  

[zep-uh-lin] / ˈzɛp ə lɪn /

noun

1. (often initial capital letter) a large dirigible balloon consisting of a long, cylindrical, covered framework containing compartments or cells filled with gas, and of various structures for holding the engines, passengers, etc.

2. any rigid airship or dirigible.

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Zeppelin ² American  

[tsep-uh-leen, tsep-uh-leen, zep-uh-lin] / ˌtsɛp əˈlin, ˈtsɛp əˌlin, ˈzɛp ə lɪn /

noun

1. Count Ferdinand von 1838–1917, German general and aeronaut: designer and manufacturer of the zeppelin.

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Zeppelin ¹ British  

/ ˈtsɛpəliːn /

noun

1. Count Ferdinand von (ˈfɛrdinant fɔn). 1838–1917, German aeronautical pioneer, who designed and manufactured airships (zeppelins)

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zeppelin ² British  

/ ˈzɛpəlɪn /

noun

1. (sometimes capital) a large cylindrical rigid airship built from 1900 to carry passengers, and used in World War I for bombing and reconnaissance

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Etymology

Origin of zeppelin

First recorded in 1900; after Count von Zeppelin

Example Sentences

In Germany, the first zeppelin had just taken flight.

From Literature

Celmins’ 1968 drawings of old black-and-white photographs torn from history books — a 1930s zeppelin airship, Hiroshima’s nearly obliterated 1945 landscape — begin with a sheet of paper prepared with a ground of snow-white acrylic.

From Los Angeles Times

Above them was a suspended zeppelin: Imagine a giant balloon of a baked potato floating over 34th Street in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

From New York Times

In groundbreaking work published last year, the Harvard team deduced that the stellar halo is tilted and elliptical in shape, like a zeppelin or football.

From Science Daily

And Harper asks viewers to hurt themselves suspending their disbelief, most notably in an action sequence where Rachel jumps out of a plane and lands on a zeppelin called The Locker.

From Salon

Related Words

• aircraft
• airplane
• barge
• boat
• plane
• ship
• spacecraft
• vessel