blimp

noun

1
: an airship that maintains its form by pressure from contained gas
2
capitalized : colonel blimp

Examples of blimp in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Over the past six seasons, Bassett’s Los Angeles Police Department field sergeant Athena Grant has weathered an absolutely staggering number of calamities including, but by no means limited to: a tsunami, a citywide blackout, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake, and, yes, a blimp crash. Patrick Gomez, EW.com, 6 Mar. 2024 As for the airship, the carbon-fiber blimp is held down by secure ropes until given the green light to disengage. Tori Latham, Robb Report, 7 Mar. 2024 Over the years, he's gotten stick time on dozens of aircraft, from the iconic Korean War-era Soviet MiG-15 to the Goodyear blimp. Scott Neuman, NPR, 27 Feb. 2024 In response to the blimps, Customs says most drug smugglers started to land ahead of the border and head for the U.S. by land. Gwen Filosa, Miami Herald, 6 Feb. 2024 Zeppelins, dirigibles, blimps, and other forms have delivered slow, steady travel over oceans and other areas of the Earth that had been inaccessible to most short-range aircraft. Michael Verdon, Robb Report, 6 Feb. 2024 Although airships never died off entirely—the Goodyear blimps, familiar to sports fans, are proof of that—the industry was already in decline by 1937, the year of the Hindenburg disaster. IEEE Spectrum, 10 Dec. 2022 Each blimp holds a 2,200-pound radar that can find aircraft at a range of 200 miles, the agency says. Gwen Filosa, Miami Herald, 6 Feb. 2024 The blimp crashed just two years later in the Pacific Ocean off Big Sur. Linda Zavoral, The Mercury News, 23 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'blimp.' 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

imitative; perhaps from the sound made by striking the gas bag with the thumb

First Known Use

1916, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of blimp was in 1916

Dictionary Entries Near blimp

Cite this Entry

“Blimp.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blimp. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

blimp

noun
: an airship filled with gas like a balloon

More from Merriam-Webster on blimp

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