airfoil
any surface, as a wing, aileron, or stabilizer, designed to aid in lifting or controlling an aircraft by making use of the air currents through which it moves.
Origin of airfoil
1Words Nearby airfoil
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use airfoil in a sentence
Engineers designed a product component, such as an airfoil, on a computer and then tasked a modeler or sculptor to craft the item in clay, wood, or stock components for physical testing.
Digital twins improve real-life manufacturing | MIT Technology Review Insights | January 5, 2022 | MIT Technology ReviewTo escape predators beneath the waves, a flying fish can shoot out of the water and glide long distances because its paired pectoral and pelvic fins, longer and more rigid than those of other fish, act as airfoils.
Flying Fish and Aquarium Pets Yield Secrets of Evolution | Viviane Callier | January 5, 2022 | Quanta MagazineEvery surface has been meticulously shaped for aerodynamic efficiency, with airfoil cross sections even on the seatpost, and all shift and brake cables entirely hidden inside the frame and cockpit.
Integrated Road Bikes Perform Better, but at What Cost? | agintzler | December 3, 2021 | Outside OnlineYou can use aerodynamic flight, with wings that generate lift through the flow of a fluid over an airfoil.
Life Beyond Human Has to Play by the Rules - Issue 98: Mind | David P. Barash | March 17, 2021 | NautilusIt’s just saying that somewhere, it is almost inevitable that creatures are making use of an airfoil to generate lift.
Life Beyond Human Has to Play by the Rules - Issue 98: Mind | David P. Barash | March 17, 2021 | Nautilus
British Dictionary definitions for airfoil
/ (ˈɛəˌfɔɪl) /
US and Canadian a cross section of an aileron, wing, tailplane, or rotor blade: Also called: aerofoil
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
Scientific definitions for airfoil
[ âr′foil′ ]
A structure having a shape that provides lift, propulsion, stability, or directional control in a flying object. An aircraft wing provides lift by causing air to pass at a higher speed over the wing than below it, resulting in greater pressure below than above. Propellers are airfoils that are spun rapidly to provide propulsion. See more at Bernoulli effect. See Note at aerodynamics.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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