antenna
Americannoun
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antennas,
plural
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antennae
plural
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a conductor by which electromagnetic waves are sent out or received, consisting commonly of a wire or set of wires; aerial.
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Zoology. one of the jointed, movable, sensory appendages occurring in pairs on the heads of insects and most other arthropods.
noun
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one of a pair of mobile appendages on the heads of insects, crustaceans, etc, that are often whiplike and respond to touch and taste but may be specialized for swimming or attachment
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another name for aerial
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One of a pair of long, slender, segmented appendages on the heads of insects, centipedes, millipedes, and crustaceans. Most antennae are organs of touch, but some are sensitive to odors and other stimuli.
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A metallic device for sending or receiving electromagnetic waves, such as radio waves. Some antennas can send waves in or receive waves from all directions; others are designed to work only in a range of directions.
Usage
Plural word for antenna The plural form of antenna can be either antennas or antennae, pronounced [ an-ten-ee ], depending on the meaning of the term. When used in the sense of "a conductor by which electromagnetic waves are sent out or received," the correct plural form is antennas. When used to describe the sensory appendages of organisms in the field of zoology, the correct plural form is antennae. The plural form of several other singular words ending in -a are also formed in this way, as in camera/cameras, pajama/pajamas, and pizza/pizzas. Irregular nouns whose plurals are formed like antennae, such as larva/larvae and fauna/faunae, derive directly from their original pluralization in Latin.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of antenna
1640–50; < Latin: a sailyard
Explanation
An antenna is a feeler found on the head of a bug. You know, the gross, creepy, pointy things they wave around and use as feelers or sensors. An antenna is also a device that sends radio and television signals. The singular noun antenna is just one of the feelers on a bug’s head — a sensory wand the insect waves around to check out its surroundings. The plural of this antenna is antennae. (Those Greeks and their funny words!) The singular noun antenna is also the thing on top of your television or radio. The plural of this antenna is antennas.
Vocabulary lists containing antenna
Animals (Zoology) - Introductory
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Buzzwords for National Honey Bee Day
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Animals (Zoology) - Middle School
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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.
See Examples For:
As the hulking antenna swivels into action, screens inside the control room light up with the names of objects the radar system detects: stars, satellites and abandoned rocket bodies.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
Every antenna also needed to release its beam at the same angle when receiving the same wavelength.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
At that time, she was living in Kyongsong, a coastal county in the North, where families could pick up TV signals across the water with an antenna.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
An important advantage is that the antenna is compatible with existing MRI equipment, eliminating the need for costly new infrastructure.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026
Then you fixed the antenna when you settled on a show.
From "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia
If Mengucci’s plain talk can’t be received by investors’ antennae or Bluetooth, they’d better check their connectivity.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
Other bees frequently touch the dancer with their antennae and bodies.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 24, 2026
Today, there’s a Christmas tree fashioned out of communication antennae on her bow.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2025
"You don't go in there complacent. The antennae is up and you're looking for weakness but I can't see anything other than a European win."
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2025
Two metal antennae waggled at us—no, it waggled at me—and started to whine.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
Federal aviation officials are planning to move air-traffic control antennas and implement new procedures to avoid a repeat of last week’s safety incident with Marine One near a busy Washington, D.C., airport.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Global drone makers are particularly dependent on China for brushless motors, antennas, cameras and batteries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Neighboring antennas can couple with one another, scrambling the light they produce.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
Placing the antennas close together creates a serious obstacle.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
The mining station looked like a floating city, with buildings and walkways and machines and antennas rising up from a wide platform.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
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.
