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.

An incident last week that saw a US warplane shot down and its two crew eject over Iran before being rescued by American special forces has also highlighted the foes' competing narratives.

From Barron's • Apr. 7, 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

The convoy took off, accompanied by two helicopters — one of them a Black Hawk — and a T-6 Texan warplane.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 6, 2025

In 2019 it was expelled from a programme where it produced parts for the warplane after it acquired air defence systems from Russia.

From BBC • Sep. 25, 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