monocoque

American  

[mon-uh-kohk, -kok] / ˈmɒn əˌkoʊk, -ˌkɒk /

noun

1. a type of boat, aircraft, or rocket construction in which the shell carries most of the stresses.

2. Automotive. a type of vehicular construction in which the body is combined with the chassis as a single unit.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or being a monocoque.

monocoque British  

/ ˈmɒnəˌkɒk /

noun

1. a type of aircraft fuselage, car body, etc, in which all or most of the loads are taken by the skin

2. a type of racing-car, racing-cycle, or powerboat design with no separate chassis and body

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adjective

1. of or relating to the design characteristic of a monocoque

Etymology

Origin of monocoque

1910–15; < French, equivalent to mono- mono- + coque shell, eggshell (of uncertain origin)

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

monocoque

This midsize five-seat, four-door, dual-motor SUV, with a palpably rigid mixed-metal monocoque and body panels, weighs 5,000 pounds, at most.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026

The idea is to prevent the plank from bending upwards into a gap that had been deliberately left by some teams between the plank and underside of the monocoque for that purpose.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2022

Formula One safety has progressed rapidly since the 1970s, when more than one driver burned to death when his weight-saving magnesium chassis and monocoque, the single-piece tub containing the cockpit, caught fire in a crash.

From New York Times ● May 27, 2017

The trailer’s lightweight rigidity is owed to the more than 5,000 hand-bucked rivets holding the load-bearing skin, the monocoque, to the tubular subframe.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2015

Behind them the fuselage was a "monocoque" of three-ply wood bolted onto the armour.

From The Aeroplane Speaks Fifth Edition by Barber, H. (Horatio)