airline

[ air-lahyn ]

/ ˈɛərˌlaɪn /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR airline ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Aeronautics.

a system furnishing air transport, usually scheduled, between specified points.
the airplanes, airports, etc., of such a system.
Often airlines. a company that owns or operates such a system.

a direct line; beeline.

an airhose used to pipe air to a deep-sea diver, pneumatic drill, etc.

adjective

of or on an airline.

Origin of airline

First recorded in 1910–15; air¹ + line¹

air-line

[ air-lahyn ]

/ ˈɛərˌlaɪn /

adjective

straight; direct; traveling a direct route: Some railroads advertise air-line routes between stations.

Origin of air-line

An Americanism dating back to 1805–15

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

Examples from the Web for airline

Indeed, Lion Air, with 45 percent of the domestic Indonesian airline market, has swallowed the Fernandes formula whole.
Annoying Airport Delays Might Prevent You From Becoming the Next AirAsia 8501|Clive Irving|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Did the airline file a flight plan that took account of the weather en route from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore?
Annoying Airport Delays Might Prevent You From Becoming the Next AirAsia 8501|Clive Irving|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Search teams find dozens of people and jet debris floating in the Java Sea, as the airline confirms the wreckage is from QZ8501.
Wreckage, Bodies of AirAsia Crash Found|Lennox Samuels|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
On board were 149 Indonesians, three South Koreans, one Singaporean, a Malaysian, and one Briton, the airline said.
The Presumed Crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 Is Nothing Like MH370|Lennox Samuels|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST

A version was approved for airline use in 2007—but no airline has adopted it.
Red Tape and Black Boxes: Why We Keep ‘Losing’ Airliners in 2014|Clive Irving|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And some of the reports are from airline pilots and people like that, who are not fooled by balloons or meteors.
Inside John Barth|William W. Stuart
Including delays and detours, this gave an average of nearly thirteen miles daily on an airline in our course.
My Attainment of the Pole|Frederick A. Cook
With this assurance the seaplane was launched and took the airline for Hamburg, leaving Albert to his own devices.
Our Young Aeroplane Scouts in Germany|Horace Porter
The airline porter wanted to put my chute in the baggage compartment.
Test Pilot|David Goodger (goodger@python.org)
And is there anything we can do about it, or will it be like the airline incident.
Fifty Per Cent Prophet|Gordon Randall Garrett

British Dictionary definitions for airline

airline

/ (ˈɛəˌlaɪn) /

noun

a system or organization that provides scheduled flights for passengers or cargo
(as modifier)an airline pilot

a hose or tube carrying air under pressure

mainly US a beeline

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

Word Origin and History for airline

airline

also air-line, 1813, "beeline, straight line from place to place" (as through the air, rather than over terrain; in later 19c. especially in reference to railways that ran directly between big cities in the U.S. instead of meandering from town to town in search of stock subscriptions as early railways typically did), from air (n.1) + line (n.). Meaning "public aircraft transportation company" is from 1914.