aircraft
any machine supported for flight in the air by buoyancy or by the dynamic action of air on its surfaces, especially powered airplanes, gliders, and helicopters.
Compare Meanings
Click for a side-by-side comparison of meanings. Use the word comparison feature to learn the differences between similar and commonly confused words.
Origin of aircraft
1Words Nearby aircraft
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use aircraft in a sentence
Their work is being supported from the air by a large fleet of state-owned and contractor fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, providing critical Air Attack retardant and water drops with pinpoint accuracy.
West Coast states are calling in all their best planes and helicopters to fight fires | By Dan Pimentel/Flying | September 25, 2020 | Popular-ScienceAs part of her work, she watched videos taken by drone aircraft flying above pods of surfacing whales.
Whale blowholes don’t keep out seawater | Rasha Aridi | September 22, 2020 | Science News For StudentsIf development of the concepts goes to plan, Airbus will officially kick off its ZEROe aircraft program by 2025, with a full-scale prototype arriving in the latter half of this decade.
Check out Airbus’s concepts for the world’s first ‘zero-emission commercial aircraft’ | David Meyer | September 21, 2020 | FortuneThis whole system is exacerbated by the fact that it’s not just contracts for privately owned aircraft.
They Know How to Prevent Megafires. Why Won’t Anybody Listen? | by Elizabeth Weil | August 28, 2020 | ProPublicaThen a Navy recruiter asked me to take a nuclear-based test – and I’m a really good test taker – so I passed and worked as a nuclear reactor operator on a few different aircraft carriers.
Pepco employee talks diversity, inclusion, and COVID | Staff reports | August 28, 2020 | Washington Blade
The assessment of the strikes comes in real-time video from the aircraft.
Pentagon Doesn’t Know How Many People It’s Killed in the ISIS War | Nancy A. Youssef | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTEach CAP, also known as an “orbit,” consists on four aircraft.
Exclusive: U.S. Drone Fleet at ‘Breaking Point,’ Air Force Says | Dave Majumdar | January 5, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTTypically, aircraft will work in pairs where the flight lead will make an initial pass to mark a target with rockets.
New U.S. Stealth Jet Can’t Fire Its Gun Until 2019 | Dave Majumdar | December 31, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST“Lack of forward firing ordnance in a CAS supporting aircraft is a major handicap,” he added.
New U.S. Stealth Jet Can’t Fire Its Gun Until 2019 | Dave Majumdar | December 31, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTSome of the items Indonesian military aircraft saw were long yellow tubes.
By agreement, the countdown was to be broadcast to all aircraft over one of the airport frequencies.
The Flaming Mountain | Harold Leland GoodwinOur ears were deafened by the sharp rat-tat-tat of the machine guns, and by our own frantic anti-aircraft fire.
The Romance of His Life | Mary CholmondeleyEvery available piece of anti-aircraft artillery was turned upon the fleecy mass.
Tam O' The Scoots | Edgar Wallace"Get an anti-aircraft gun from the Island and shell hell out of them when they come round again," suggested the artilleryman.
The Onslaught from Rigel | Fletcher PrattAirplanes were buzzing overhead; searchlights were meeting in the sky while anti-aircraft guns banged away.
Polly the Pagan | Isabel Anderson
British Dictionary definitions for aircraft
/ (ˈɛəˌkrɑːft) /
any machine capable of flying by means of buoyancy or aerodynamic forces, such as a glider, helicopter, or aeroplane
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse