airframe

[air-freym]

noun

the framework and external covering of an airplane, rocket, etc.

Origin of airframe

First recorded in 1930–35; air(plane) + frame

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for airframe

Contemporary Examples of airframe

Both a rocket engine with a temperamental record and an airframe of revolutionary design and construction had to be proved safe.
Virgin Galactic’s Flight Path to Disaster: A Clash of High Risk and Hyperbole
Clive Irving
November 1, 2014
The tests took place in a 1960s vintage Boeing 727 airframe.
Passenger Flights Must Stop Carrying Lithium-Ion Batteries as Cargo
Clive Irving
May 5, 2014

British Dictionary definitions for airframe

airframe

noun

the body of an aircraft, excluding its engines

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