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Synonyms

aircraft carrier

American  

noun

  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.

aircraft carrier British  

noun

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

"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

Etymology

Origin of aircraft carrier

First recorded in 1915–20

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.

Each “Book” occupies one side of a long bilateral vitrine, which commands the narrow gallery like a berthed aircraft carrier.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026

Mr. Trump this weekend complained on Truth Social about a fake video of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier “burning uncontrollably in the Ocean.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026

On 14 March, France's foreign ministry said the country's aircraft carrier strike group remained deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean, and its mission remained "defensive".

From BBC • Mar. 17, 2026

Reporting on claims circulating online that a U.S. aircraft carrier had been destroyed in an Iranian attack.

From Salon • Mar. 17, 2026

A nearby US aircraft carrier launched fighter aircraft to patrol the skies.

From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge

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.