monocoque
Americannoun
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a type of boat, aircraft, or rocket construction in which the shell carries most of the stresses.
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Automotive. a type of vehicular construction in which the body is combined with the chassis as a single unit.
adjective
noun
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a type of aircraft fuselage, car body, etc, in which all or most of the loads are taken by the skin
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a type of racing-car, racing-cycle, or powerboat design with no separate chassis and body
adjective
Etymology
Origin of monocoque
1910–15; < French, equivalent to mono- mono- + coque shell, eggshell (of uncertain origin)
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.
As it is with previous and current Cayennes, the Electric has a steel and aluminum monocoque integrated into the subframe structure that supports the battery and suspension.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
It has a monocoque frame, which means the bodywork is the frame, not separate body panels attached to the frame as with other scooters.
From New York Times ● Dec. 27, 2018
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
The young British driver climbed unhurt from motor racing's first ever carbon fibre monocoque cabin.
From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2011
The monocoque has coque body, the others ordinary rectangular section.
From Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1913 by Various
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.
