biplane

[ bahy-pleyn ]

noun

an airplane with two sets of wings, one above and usually slightly forward of the other.

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Origin of biplane

First recorded in 1870–75; bi-¹ + (air)plane

Words Nearby biplane

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use biplane in a sentence

Sitting alone in the cockpit of a small biplane, Martin Wikelski listens for the pings of a machine by his side.
How death’s-head hawkmoths manage to fly straight for miles in the dark | Anil Oza | August 26, 2022 | Science News
Should the program successfully demonstrate swarm launch and recovery, it will finally surpass the goblins and biplanes of the past.
Watch a C-130 cargo plane grab a drone out of the sky | Kelsey D. Atherton | November 8, 2021 | Popular-Science
They flew in a rickety, underpowered biplane and carried just $25 in their pockets.
Red Tails Overlooks the Story of America’s First Black Pilots | Marc Wortman | January 16, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
Doyle makes routine flights over the 1,700-acre compound in his biplane.
Warren Jeffs' Flock in Denial | Carol McKinley | August 5, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
We talk familiarly now about aeroplanes and the different kinds of aeroplanes, such as the monoplane, biplane, etc.
Stories That Words Tell Us | Elizabeth O'Neill

I caught a fleeting glimpse of what I took to be a little biplane.
The Fire People | Ray Cummings
Undaunted by his failure he set to work on a double set of wings, very similar to a modern biplane.
The Romance of Aircraft | Lawrence Yard Smith
For where the biplane has an intricate control system, Lilienthal relied entirely upon his own body to operate his glider.
The Romance of Aircraft | Lawrence Yard Smith
Chanute, a Frenchman, now devised a biplane glider with which he succeeded in making brief flights of a few seconds.
The Romance of Aircraft | Lawrence Yard Smith

British Dictionary definitions for biplane

biplane

/ (ˈbaɪˌpleɪn) /

noun

a type of aeroplane having two sets of wings, one above the other: Compare monoplane

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

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