warplane

American

[wawr-pleyn] / ˈwɔrˌpleɪn /

noun

an airplane designed for, or used in, warfare.

warplane British

/ ˈwɔːˌpleɪn /

noun

Also called (US): battle plane. any aircraft designed for and used in warfare

"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 warplane

First recorded in 1910–15; war ¹ + 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:

warplane

Tehran said it had shot down the F-15 warplane, while US media reported United States special forces had rescued one of its two crew members, with the other still missing.

From Barron's ● Apr. 4, 2026

But the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed that a new type of Iranian air defense system deployed for the first time in recent days had shot down a warplane on Friday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026

The F-15, a warplane that has been flying since the 1970s, has never been shot down by an enemy aircraft in aerial combat.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026

Delays, infrastructure gaps and personnel shortages to Britain's most advanced warplane programme are undermining the UK's warfighting capability, the public spending watchdog has said.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2025

And an old warplane that kids could investigate.

From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss

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