ornithopter

noun

or·​ni·​thop·​ter ˈȯr-nə-ˌthäp-tər 

: an aircraft designed to derive its chief support and propulsion from flapping wings

Examples of ornithopter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

What really worked for director Denis Villeneuve, says King, were the sounds of the thumpers (used to summon the sandworms) and the ornithopters (the helicopters), so those were reused in Part Two. —Beatrice Verhoeven, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Feb. 2025

Berkeley is also working on a second ornithopter called iBird, which is capable of flying towards a reflective target completely autonomously. —IEEE Spectrum, 27 Sep. 2011

There’s also some ornithopter combat and what looks like fairly extensive base-building options. —Andrew Webster, The Verge, 4 Mar. 2024

Paul and Jessica fly off in an ornithopter and evade their pursuers by flying into a storm. —Max Evry, WIRED, 4 Mar. 2024

The Flying Martha, for example, is a windup flying bird, or ornithopter, that can also be used as a kite and was designed to match the exact dimensions of the passenger pigeon, a once endemic species in North America that was hunted to extinction by 1914. —New York Times, 29 Sep. 2021

An ornithopter is a highly complex system. —Paul Douglas, Star Tribune, 28 July 2020

In August 2010, with Reichert again supplying pedaling power, the ornithopter achieved flight — albeit brief, about 19 seconds. —James McCommons, Discover Magazine, 28 May 2015

In this video the ornithopter developed inside the ERC Advanced Grant GRIFFIN project performs its first flight. —IEEE Spectrum, 14 June 2019

Word History

Etymology

International Scientific Vocabulary ornith- + -pter (as in helicopter)

First Known Use

1908, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for ornithopter

• helicopter
• adopter
• copter