seaplane

[see-pleyn]

noun

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

Nearby words

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

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|DAILY BEAST
If this storm meant grave dangers to them, what must it mean to two boys in a seaplane skimming through the air over the sea?
Curlie Carson Listens In|Roy J. Snell
This would give the bombs a better target than if the seaplane was cutting across the path of the airship.
Billy Barcroft, R.N.A.S.|Percy F. Westerman
At the same time, the seaplane just then did not seem to be making any headway.
Some Naval Yarns|Mordaunt Hall

The seaplane is merely an airplane with pontoons, It starts from the ground or from the deck of a vessel.
Our Navy in the War|Lawrence Perry
The next instant there was a vivid flash, followed by a crash that was audible above the roar of the seaplane's engine.
Billy Barcroft, R.N.A.S.|Percy F. Westerman

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

seaplane

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