airman
Americannoun
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an aviator.
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U.S. Air Force. an enlisted person of one of the three lowest ranks airmanbasic, airman, airmanfirstclass. Amn
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a member of a military aircrew.
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(in other countries) an enlisted person in the air force.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of airman
1870–75, for an earlier sense; air 1 + -man, on the model of seaman
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.
See Examples For:
A California airman died Thursday after the heavy machinery he was operating rolled down an embankment at a military base, officials said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
The rescue of a missing airman sparks the latest dispute to trip up traders on the prediction-market platform.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 2026
Video footage of a captured U.S. airman in enemy hands would have handed Tehran a major propaganda tool and a source of leverage at a critical moment in the war.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026
The CIA also ran a deception campaign, according to reports, spreading word inside Iran that US forces had already found the second airman.
From BBC ● Apr. 5, 2026
Mutti kept trying to stop him from speaking to the airman, but Karli ignored her.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
American airmen were already helping to restore traffic at Simon Bolivar International Airport near Caracas, which was also damaged in one of the worst quake disasters in Latin American history.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
“We’re asking airmen to strap into jets that their grandfathers, fathers and now they are flying, and it is time for a reset,” said Doug Birkey, executive director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
The CIA "executed a deception campaign to confuse the Iranians, who were desperately hunting for our airmen," whom Washington located as of Saturday morning, Ratcliffe said, without providing details on the deception efforts.
From Barron's ● Apr. 6, 2026
In the interview, the president also shared new details about the dramatic rescue of two U.S. airmen whose F-15E was shot down over Iran.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026
Proper British airmen flying over the European Continent carry a couple of photographs in their emergency kit, just in case they’re shot down and need fake ID.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
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.
