helo
Americannoun
-
helos
plural
Usage
What does helo mean? Helo is a slang term for helicopter. Although the hel part of helicopter is pronounced with a short e (like hell), helo is sometimes pronounced with a long e and a long o: HEE-low. Helo is most often used as military slang. In general, the slang term chopper is more commonly used to refer to a helicopter. Example: Our helo crashed a few clicks back, so we’ve been on foot.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of helo
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:
“We have a helo inbound, three point five minutes out,” the camera operator said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2025
“This is a large facility that will house helo pilots and response personnel under one roof to produce reduced response times to the missile complex,” Dammeier said.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 20, 2021
“I was a helo pilot overseas, now I’m waitlisted for commercial flight school in Denver. I thought it might fun to be in Aspen for the holidays. Two, maybe three more weeks.”
From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2018
Questions surrounded the crash: Why were so many from our most elite military unit on one helo?
From Time ● Aug. 12, 2012
On New Year’s Eve, we were able to get in a short helo trip to Mount Sirius, about a 20-minute flight from CTAM, to look at deposits of the Sirius Formation.
From New York Times ● Jan. 7, 2011
Along with a lot of work by handcrews and helos, they boxed in the burn.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2022
“In addition to personal safety and ability to evacuate in emergencies, helos and planes are needed to move U.S. diplomats, aid workers, intelligence officers and support personnel around the country,” he said.
From New York Times ● Jun. 29, 2021
They would overfly our Amphibious Assault Group in bizarre looking helos and fixed wing aircraft, snapping pictures, so close we could the pilots were wearing shorts.
From New York Times ● Mar. 5, 2018
The lizard’s species name comes from the Greek helos for stud, as in the head of a nail, derma for skin.
From Slate ● Apr. 26, 2013
Would the "helos" pick us up from a pad on the roof?
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
