hovercraft
Americannoun
-
hovercraft
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of hovercraft
Explanation
A vehicle that hovers while traveling over land and water is called a hovercraft. Do you need to deliver a batch of cookies to the far side of the lake and down a dirt road? Better take the hovercraft! Although it's not always obvious when you watch a hovercraft move, it does actually hover above the ground or water surface while it's moving. Hovercrafts use air pressure and currents to glide freely over difficult terrain, including mud and ice. As it rides on a "cushion of air," a hovercraft is also known as an "air-cushion vehicle" or "ACV." It takes an actual aircraft pilot to operate one.
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.
Other Taiwan-related naval activity includes renewed construction of Zubr-class large sealift hovercraft and stepped up production of tank landing ships.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 20, 2023
Other troops arrived in semi-inflatable rubber boats, with heavy equipment carried to shore on military hovercraft.
From Reuters ● Nov. 19, 2023
Hoylake's hovercraft Hurley Spirit was sent to help the woman at the south end of West Kirby Marine Lake on Merseyside at about 14:45 BST on Monday.
From BBC ● May 30, 2023
It's an unmistakable image of the Disney+ show: Mando in his silver armor and face-shielding helmet and Grogu bobbling along, behind or beside with his own gleaming protective hovercraft.
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2023
First, as I’ve believed, that the Capitol sent in that hovercraft, dropped the parachutes, and sacrificed its children’s lives, knowing the recently arrived rebels would go to their aid.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
