ornithopter

[ awr-nuh-thop-ter ]

noun

a heavier-than-air craft designed to be propelled through the air by flapping wings.

Origin of ornithopter

<French ornithoptère (1908), equivalent to ornitho-ornitho- + -ptère<Greek -pteros-pterous

Words Nearby ornithopter

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use ornithopter in a sentence

Have a knowledge of the theory of the aeroplane, helicopter, and ornithopter, and of the spherical and dirigible balloon.
How Girls Can Help Their Country | Juliette Low
This experiment remains as the greatest success yet achieved by any machine constructed on the ornithopter principle.
A History of Aeronautics | E. Charles Vivian
The four wings of the semi-ornithopter blurred with motion, lifting the craft into the sky.
Thy Rocks and Rills | Robert Ernest Gilbert
Red clover bent and writhed in the artificial wind from the ornithopter wings.
Thy Rocks and Rills | Robert Ernest Gilbert
ornithopter (or Orthopter)—A flapping wing design of aircraft intended to imitate the flight of a bird.
The Aeroplane Speaks | H. Barber

British Dictionary definitions for ornithopter

ornithopter

/ (ˈɔːnɪˌθɒptə) /

noun

a heavier-than-air craft sustained in and propelled through the air by flapping wings: Also called: orthopter

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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