airfoil

[ air-foil ]

See synonyms for airfoil on Thesaurus.com

nounAeronautics.

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

First recorded in 1920–25; air¹ + foil²

Words 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 Review
To 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 Magazine
Every 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 Online
You 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 | Nautilus
It’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

airfoil

/ (ˈɛəˌfɔɪl) /

noun

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

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.

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