heavier-than-air
Americanadjective
adjective
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having a density greater than that of air
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of or relating to an aircraft that does not depend on buoyancy for support but gains lift from aerodynamic forces
Etymology
Origin of heavier-than-air
First recorded in 1900–05
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.
And yet, on Dec. 17, 1903, Orville piloted a powered, heavier-than-air craft, the Wright Flyer, 120 feet across the sand at Kitty Hawk, N.C.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026
Safety concerns increased in 2020 after a pipeline in Mississippi ruptured in a landslide, releasing a heavier-than-air plume of carbon dioxide that displaced oxygen near the ground.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 25, 2023
On Dec. 17, 1903, brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright successfully tested a heavier-than-air “aeroplane” known as the Wright Flyer III, which propelled itself through the air with the help of a four-cylinder inline engine.
From Slate ● Nov. 18, 2018
The heavier-than-air chemical can pool in places with poor ventilation, like bathrooms.
From Washington Post ● May 10, 2018
THE AVRO.—The aeroplane designed and built by Mr. A. V. Roe was the first successful heavier-than-air flying machine built by a British subject.
From The Aeroplane Speaks Fifth Edition by H. (Horatio) Barber
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.
