aerostat

noun

aero·stat ˈer-ō-ˌstat

: a lighter-than-air aircraft (such as a balloon or blimp) compare aerodyne

Examples of aerostat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Jiang and his team have for years stressed that balloons offer cheap surveillance platforms able to follow motor vehicles and people, similar to the U.S. use of aerostats in Afghanistan during the war there. —

Lily Kuo, Washington Post, 16 Feb. 2023 China’s use of aerostats — which include free-floating balloons like the one found hovering over the United States, steerable balloons or airships, and tethered balloons — to observe its own people offers clues to the scope and ambition of a program shrouded in secrecy. —

Lily Kuo, Washington Post, 16 Feb. 2023 Flying continuously inside the Earth’s atmosphere requires lift though: either the buoyancy of a lighter-than-air craft such as a balloon, airship or aerostat provided by hot air or low-density gas, or lift from airflow generated by a heavier than air craft. —

David Hambling, Forbes, 13 Feb. 2023 An aerostat is a giant surveillance balloon. —

Annie Jacobsen, Wired, 20 Jan. 2021 The balloon itself, to Belarusian officials, looked like a drifting aerostat or sounding balloon from Poland, and were too hasty in shooting down the aircraft. —

Craig Hooper, Forbes, 5 Feb. 2023 The signal from an aerostat -- used as a low altitude platform station (LAPS) -- is sufficient for tasks like internet browsing and email, says World Mobile. —

Tom Page, CNN, 12 Jan. 2022 Then a tether rope was cut and the aerostat soared up at a 60 degree angle to the applause and cheers of the throng. —

Merrie Monteagudo, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Apr. 2021 The imaging system, dubbed the MX-15, attached to the underbelly of the aerostat was roughly the size of a beach ball. —

Annie Jacobsen, Wired, 20 Jan. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'aerostat.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French aérostat, probably back-formation from aérostatique "of aerostatics," with -stat (after héliostat heliostat) taken as the Greek agentive element -statēs "one who causes to stand" — more at -stat

First Known Use

1784, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of aerostat was in 1784

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