(often initial capital letter) a large dirigible balloon consisting of a long, cylindrical, covered framework containing compartments or cells filled with gas, and of various structures for holding the engines, passengers, etc.
any rigid airship or dirigible.
First recorded in 1900; after Count von Zeppelin
A zeppelin is a kind of airship that was used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Zeppelins were flown by the German military during World War I. While Germany found many military uses for zeppelins during the first World War, they were also used for commercial air travel by both Germany and the United States. Zeppelins were typically made from an aluminum-like metal, and shaped like a long cylinder. The zeppelin was named after the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, one of the airship's inventors.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In groundbreaking work published last year, the Harvard team deduced that the stellar halo is tilted and elliptical in shape, like a zeppelin or football.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2023
And Harper asks viewers to hurt themselves suspending their disbelief, most notably in an action sequence where Rachel jumps out of a plane and lands on a zeppelin called The Locker.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2023
Arooj Aftab is an intriguing pick to close the weekend inside McCurdy Pavilion — an old zeppelin hangar converted into an auditorium — which tells you a lot about THING’s intentions.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 25, 2022
An ovoid-shaped airship calls to mind a 1920s-era zeppelin, although Vermette explains, “It’s basically an armadillo that’s been squashed.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2022
Lord Asriel’s force, the squadron of gyropters and the zeppelin fuel tanker, had reached the opening between the worlds: the breach in the sky above Svalbard.
From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman
"There were four Led Zeppelin autographs and a Jim Morrison autograph," Vadym said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
You can barely say Led Zeppelin IV in 8 seconds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
I love the group that Led Zeppelin were modeled on, the Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart singing with them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026
A Victorian image of thatcher Lot Long, from Wiltshire, is believed to be the original frame behind the cover art of Led Zeppelin IV, which included the rock band's hit Stairway to Heaven.
From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2026
I could see the Zeppelin poster of clasperless Icarus hanging over his bed and the framed picture of Richard Feynman on the wall.
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
The German military utilized zeppelins as early as 1915 to fly to London and bomb the city.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022
In Scotland it became useful as a reconnaissance plane to protect the Forth coastline and Rosyth dockyard against German zeppelins.
From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2022
A museum devoted to zeppelins, plus an actual zeppelin high in the sky.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 24, 2022
A team of nearly 80 scholars wrote the 85 alphabetical entries, from arsenic-laced wallpaper that poisoned Victorian families to exploding zeppelins.
From New York Times ● Apr. 21, 2022
“As clearly as you saw what happened to the zeppelins during the night. Pack what you want to carry, and come away now.”
From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
