quadcopter

American  

[kwod-kop-ter] / ˈkwɒdˌkɒp tər /

Also quadricopter

noun

1. a rotorcraft with four arms, each with a propeller, one pair of which spins clockwise while the other spins counterclockwise, enabling the craft to hover and maintain stability.

   For aerial photography in mountainous regions, our drones of choice are small battery-powered quadcopters.

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Etymology

Origin of quadcopter

First recorded in 1920–25 (in the sense “manned rotocraft”); quad(ri-) ( def. ) + copter ( def. )

Example Sentences

There is some excellent location shooting in downtown Los Angeles during the climax, seen through the lens of a bodycam or quadcopter or drone camera.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 23, 2026

In about a year, his infantry platoon went from having one kind of drone, a small quadcopter, to seven types to experiment with.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 13, 2025

A tweet about Tuesday’s announcement included a video showing a spinning wheel with a Tesla logo that could have been the rotor of a Tesla eVTOL, or quadcopter drone.

From Barron's • Oct. 7, 2025

It's NASA's newly approved mission to Saturn's moon, Titan, where the agency will deploy the robotic quadcopter called Dragonfly — successor to the legendary Ingenuity of Mars-mission fame.

From Salon • Apr. 24, 2024

The university says it is unaware of a bigger unmanned quadcopter, but there is no independent verification of the record.

From BBC • Oct. 23, 2023