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biplane

American

[bahy-playn] / ˈbaɪˌpleɪn /

noun

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

biplane British

/ 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

Etymology

Origin of biplane

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

Compare meaning

How does biplane compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

monoplane vs. biplane

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:

biplane

Also, its new or expanding services over 2026-2027 include new operating theater, automated peritoneal dialysis, and biplane angiography system.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

Five people aboard a Russian-designed biplane were stranded Monday when the plane landed at the North Pole and sank through the ice.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2024

That's how they had her hover at that one point for one of the opening shots when she's hovering and then it turns into the biplane.

From Salon ● Feb. 19, 2024

Post Office in 1918, depicts a biplane called the Curtiss JN, known as a Jenny.

From New York Times ● Nov. 14, 2023

The maneuvers had her flying an open-cockpit biplane upside down about 10 feet above the ground and slicing through a ribbon stretched between two poles.

From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023