seaplane

[see-pleyn]

noun

an airplane provided with floats for taking off from or landing on water.

Origin of seaplane

First recorded in 1910–15; sea + plane¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for seaplane

Contemporary Examples of seaplane

VESSELS MOORED IN HARBOR: NINE BATTLESHIPS; THREE CLASS-B CRUISERS; THREE SEAPLANE TENDERS; SEVENTEEN DESTROYERS.
The Forgotten Crimes of Japan's Pearl Harbor Spy, Tadashi Morimura
Marc Wortman
December 6, 2011

Historical Examples of seaplane

Judging by time, it was probably the seaplane which visited Sheerness.
The Story of the Great War, Volume VI (of VIII)
Various
Through the port came the muttering of a seaplane's engines.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, May, 1930
Various
At the same time, the seaplane just then did not seem to be making any headway.
Some Naval Yarns
Mordaunt Hall
I was up about 2,500 feet, and dropped bombs on the seaplane base.
Some Naval Yarns
Mordaunt Hall
In fact, I had no conception of the altitude of the seaplane then.
Some Naval Yarns
Mordaunt Hall

British Dictionary definitions for seaplane

seaplane

noun

any aircraft that lands on and takes off from waterAlso called (esp US): hydroplane

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

Word Origin and History for seaplane

1913, from sea + plane (n.2).