airplane

noun

air·​plane ˈer-ˌplān 

: a powered heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed wings from which it derives most of its lift

Illustration of airplane

• 1 weather radar
• 2 cockpit
• 3 jet engine
• 4 engine pod
• 5 pylon
• 6 wing
• 7 vertical stabilizer
• 8 rudder
• 9 10 tabs
• 11 elevator
• 12 horizontal stabilizer
• 13 inboard flap
• 14 inboard spoiler
• 15 16 tabs
• 17 aileron
• 18 outboard flap
• 19 outboard spoiler
• 20 sound suppressor
• 21 thrust reverser
• 22 cabin air intake
• 23 fuselage
• 24 nose landing gear

Synonyms

• aeroplane [chiefly British]
• plane

Examples of airplane in a Sentence

my uncle learned how to fly an airplane while serving in the air force

Recent Examples on the Web

North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) was forced to scramble fighter jets three times over President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in South Florida on Saturday after airplanes violated restricted airspace. —Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 3 Mar. 2025

This decline may very well have been exacerbated by another airplane crash in November 2001. —Harry Enten, CNN, 28 Feb. 2025

The Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, for example, manages a fleet of scientific and survey ships and airplanes that provide key data for climate, weather, fisheries, and underwater mapping. —Nik Popli, TIME, 28 Feb. 2025

Before becoming a microscopic artist, Lindon was an engineer who worked on the small instrumentation inside airplane cockpits. —Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

alteration of aeroplane

First Known Use

1906, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing airplane

• airplane mode

Rhymes for airplane

• abstain
• alkane
• arcane
• arraign
• attain
• backplane
• betaine
• biplane
• blockchain
• butane
• campaign
• cetane

Kids Definition

airplane

noun

air·​plane ˈa(ə)r-ˌplān 

ˈe(ə)r-

: a fixed-wing heavier-than-air aircraft that is driven by a propeller or by a forceful stream of gases backward and is supported by the reaction of the air against its wings