airliner
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of airliner
Explanation
If you've ever taken a trip that began or ended at an airport, then chances are that your journey included flying on an airliner — a big, commercial airplane that transports passengers across cities, countries, and continents. An airliner plays a crucial role in connecting people and places, making travel over long distances accessible and convenient. A nonstop trip from New York to Hawaii — a distance of more than 5,000 miles — can be made in about 12 hours on an airliner. Early airliners had spacious seats and legroom, along with amenities like piano lounges. Most of today's airliners have fewer amenities and more seats for paying passengers. Smaller airliners carry about 100–135 passengers, while larger airliners can carry up to about 850 passengers!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Qatar's royal family donated the luxury airliner last year after Trump complained about the state of the two aging jets that have served as the official US presidential planes since 1990.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Budget airliner Wizz Air might be the most exposed to conflict in the region, as it has significant direct exposure to Israel, Citibank’s Conor Dwyer wrote in a note.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 2, 2026
The cast includes Keanu Reeves, Kirsten Dunst, Daniel Brühl, Nicholas Braun and Samantha Morton and supposedly a decommissioned 747 airliner was purchased for the production.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 1, 2026
From the outside the P-8 may look like an airliner, just painted grey and with fewer windows.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2025
Instead of having to wait until there was an airliner going our way, we could set our own schedules by flying our own planes, and save a lot of time.
From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
