airplane

[air-pleyn] /ˈɛərˌpleɪn/
noun
1.
a heavier-than-air aircraft kept aloft by the upward thrust exerted by the passing air on its fixed wings and driven by propellers, jet propulsion, etc.
2.
any similar heavier-than-air aircraft, as a glider or helicopter.
Also, especially British, aeroplane.
Origin
1870-75, for an earlier sense; alteration of aeroplane, with air1 replacing aero-
Related forms
proairplane, adjective
Examples from the web for airplane
  • The words in it are chiefly neologisms, e g, airplane.
  • The coat also doubles as a blanket on any airplane flights.
  • airplane pilots rely upon checklists to ensure that both routine procedures and emergency responses are handled appropriately.
  • In the machine shop, a wooden model airplane is being worked on by two students.
  • Fat people are not oppressed because they have to pay more for insurance, or have to buy an extra seat on an airplane.
  • Leave your phone in airplane mode, or even off, as much as possible.
  • Many of the collections are catalogs of specimens: fish skeletons, fossilized plants, airplane models.
  • He told us that some one had recently flown an airplane under the span.
  • It's also pretty unusual to look down the length of an airplane and not notice a human being in one of the seats.
  • And yet airplane electronics, or avionics to use the technical term, do not routinely squawk or fail.
British Dictionary definitions for airplane

aeroplane

/ˈɛərəˌpleɪn/
noun
1.
a heavier-than-air powered flying vehicle with fixed wings
Word Origin
C19: from French aéroplane, from aero- + Greek -planos wandering, related to planet

airplane

/ˈɛəˌpleɪn/
noun
1.
(US & Canadian) a heavier-than-air powered flying vehicle with fixed wings Also called aeroplane
Word Origin and History for airplane
n.

1907, from air (n.1) + plane (n.1); though the original references are British, the word caught on in American English, where it largely superseded earlier aeroplane (1873 in this sense and still common in British English). Aircraft "airplane" also is from 1907. Lord Byron, speculatively, used air-vessel (1822).

Slang definitions & phrases for airplane

airplane

noun

A tweezerlike clip for holding a marijuana cigarette stub; roach clip