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

Auterion, a startup with offices in Virginia and Munich, demonstrated its swarm technology on quadcopter drones during U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 25, 2026

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

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

He added that there was a quadcopter drone "shooting in the surroundings of the hospital and the outdoor area of the hospital".

From BBC • May 21, 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