aircraft carrier

American  

noun

• aircraft carriers
  plural

1. a warship equipped with a large open deck for the taking off and landing of warplanes and with facilities to carry, service, and arm them.

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aircraft carrier British  

noun

1. a warship built with an extensive flat deck space for the launch and recovery of aircraft

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• aircraft carriers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of aircraft carrier

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

aircraft carrier

Take the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which returned to port in Thailand in early September after nine months at sea.

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026

The 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier, which was commissioned into service in 2017, left Portsmouth Naval Base at about 18:20 BST on Saturday.

From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026

“When I first saw the aircraft carrier, I was amazed. Thailand didn’t have anything like it,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

The Lincoln’s fate has been the most heavily publicized, but it isn’t the only aircraft carrier to suffer these traumas.

From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026

Pushing the raft, he figured, was about like trying to push an aircraft carrier.

From "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen

Related Words

• carrier
• warship