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.
The aviation industry, quite literally, took off when the Wright brothers flew the world’s first heavier-than-air craft on a sustained, powered flight near Kitty Hawk, N.C.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 7, 2026
The extravaganza was mounted barely six years after the Wright brothers took off at Kitty Hawk, N.C. in the first heavier-than-air manned flight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2024
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
Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon and the famed Wright brothers’ flyer was the first heavier-than-air powered aircraft.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 1, 2018
After showing a marked talent with balloons, he turned his attention to heavier-than-air machines, and in 1906 created a world's record in a flight of 230 yards at a speed of twenty-five miles an hour.
From History of the World War An Authentic Narrative of the World's Greatest War by March, Francis Andrew
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.
