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seaplane

American

[see-playn] / ˈsiˌpleɪn /

noun

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

seaplane British

/ ˈsiːˌpleɪn /

noun

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

"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

Etymology

Origin of seaplane

First recorded in 1910–15; sea + plane ¹

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.

See Examples For:

seaplane

Lifting off from the water on their return flight, the seaplane went into a stall-spin and sputtered into the trees.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

The seaplane was upright and towed back to the dock, fire officials say.

From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026

The waterfront then just a block behind, our couple strolled from seaplane to their suite to begin their first foray into Asia.

From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2025

Some moments never cease to surprise, such as a full-scale seaplane being jettisoned into the pond.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2024

Not one of these was anything like the shell houses Joe and his crewmates had known—the old seaplane hangar in Seattle or the rickety shell houses of Poughkeepsie.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023