nacelle
Americannoun
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the enclosed part of an airplane, dirigible, etc., in which the engine is housed or in which cargo or passengers are carried.
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the car of a balloon.
noun
Etymology
Origin of nacelle
1475–85; < French: a small boat < Late Latin nāvicella, for Latin nāvicula, equivalent to nāvi ( s ) ship ( see nave) + -cula -cule 1
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.
Vestas currently operates two factories in Poland, an onshore blade plant that it recently acquired, and an offshore nacelle assembly facility.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 20, 2025
The flaw could cause the inlet at the front end of the pod surrounding the engine — known as a nacelle — to overheat and potentially break up.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 25, 2024
The nacelle capacity is expected to reach 100 per year, enough for 50 planes, the reports said, though no target date was stated.
From Reuters • Sep. 27, 2021
Technicians would install a nacelle near the top, where the monument tapers to a pyramidal point.
From Washington Post • Mar. 31, 2015
Down shot the nacelle, steadily, swiftly, with the major, Leclair, and the others now engaged in the most perilous, dare-devil undertaking imaginable.
From The Flying Legion by England, George Allan
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.
