fuselage

noun

fu·​se·​lage ˈfyü-sə-ˌläzh 

-zə-

: the central body portion of an aircraft designed to accommodate the crew and the passengers or cargo see airplane illustration

Examples of fuselage in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Most of the sets were built in Toronto, disassembled, and flown to Iqaluit for reassembly, with each piece put on palettes and packed to fit the cargo plane’s fuselage. —Dana Feldman, Forbes, 21 Mar. 2025

In 2018, a Southwest Airlines flight suffered an engine malfunction which damaged the fuselage, resulting in an explosive decompression of the cabin that sucked one passenger, Jennifer Riordan, partially out of the aircraft. —Zach Wichter, USA TODAY, 6 Mar. 2025

An arduous and slow recovery mission The mangled wreckage in the Potomac has made the recovery effort especially difficult for dive teams, who have struggled to access parts of the plane’s fuselage where bodies may be trapped. —Karina Tsui, CNN, 4 Feb. 2025

Divers searching for the 24 remaining bodies of the victims, many believed to be trapped in the jet's fuselage. —ABC News, 2 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, from fuselé "spindle-shaped" (from past participle of fuseler "to give the shape of a spindle to," going back to Middle French, derivative of fusel "spindle," diminutive of fus "spindle," going back to Latin fūsus, of obscure origin) + -age -age

First Known Use

1909, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for fuselage

• auge
• hodge
• podge
• dislodge
• hodgepodge

Kids Definition

fuselage

noun

fu·​se·​lage ˈfyü-sə-ˌläzh 

ˈfyü-zə-

: the central body portion of an airplane that holds the crew, passengers, and cargo