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.

---

aircraft carrier British  

noun

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

---

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

The aircraft carrier traveled more than 85,000 nautical miles carrying around 5,000 sailors during its 10-month deployment, described as “one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era” by U.S.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

It said the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier and its strike group could arrive in the Middle East next month.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

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

No U.S. aircraft carrier will participate this time.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026

Then we would be delivered by helicopter to the aircraft carrier, where we would be locked up inside an aluminum box that looked like a house trailer.

From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• carrier
• warship

---