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Synonyms

airplane

American  
[air-pleyn] / ˈɛərˌpleɪn /

noun

  1. a heavier-than-air aircraft kept aloft by the upward thrust exerted by the passing air on its fixed wings and driven by propellers, jet propulsion, etc.

  2. any similar heavier-than-air aircraft, as a glider or helicopter.


airplane British  
/ ˈɛəˌpleɪn /

noun

  1. Also called: aeroplane.  a heavier-than-air powered flying vehicle with fixed wings

"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

Other Word Forms

  • proairplane adjective

Etymology

Origin of airplane

1870–75, for an earlier sense; alteration of aeroplane, with air 1 replacing aero-

Compare meaning

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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.

They call it Q-Day, which sounds like something from a movie you’d watch on an airplane, except this one is real and nobody knows exactly when it will arrive.

From MarketWatch

For the same reasons, she recommends using your charging brick on airplanes, instead of plugging directly into your seat’s USB port.

From The Wall Street Journal

With 11 Starship missions under its belt, SpaceX is planning future flights that would take the spacecraft over Florida, Mexico and North Atlantic airplane routes.

From The Wall Street Journal

Another user, @wesleybrennan87, posted a photo of two airplane contrails crisscrossing the sky through a break in the fog.

From Los Angeles Times

Another shows him on an airplane tarmac with Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted associate of Epstein.

From BBC