quadcopter

noun

quad·​cop·​ter ˈkwäd-ˌkäp-tər 

plural quadcopters

: a drone (see drone entry 1 sense 2) deriving lift from four separate rotors each oriented about a vertical axis : quadrotor

It's a quadcopter, meaning it's a miniature helicopter with four rotors; basically it looks like a giant four-leaf clover designed by Darth Vader.

—Lev Grossman

A remote control quadcopter-type model helicopter flew directly through the U.S. Coast Guard base at the Arcata-Eureka Airport in McKinleyville on Saturday afternoon …

—Eureka Times Standard (California)

Examples of quadcopter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This affordable drone shares many of the features and settings that its more expensive and advanced quadcopter counterparts. — Bestreviews, Mercury News, 3 June 2026

Both sides deploy plane-like unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, as well as quadcopters. — Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 24 May 2026

Drones lifted into the sky nearby carrying explosives, and another prototype quadcopter carried a nine-millimeter rifle. — Duarte Dias, CBS News, 29 May 2026

Nations now need to defend everywhere, all the time, against threats ranging from a $1,000 quadcopter with a half-pound of explosives to multimillion-dollar ballistic and hypersonic missiles. — Brynn Tannehill, The Atlantic, 31 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

quad entry 5 + -copter (in helicopter entry 1)

First Known Use

2004, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for quadcopter

• adopter
• copter
• helicopter