airborne

adjective

air·borne | \ -ˌbȯrn

Definition of airborne

1 : done or being in the air : being off the ground: such as

a : carried through the air (as by an aircraft)

b : supported especially by aerodynamic forces or propelled through the air by force a plane becoming airborne

c : transported or carried by the air airborne allergens

2 : trained for deployment by air and especially by parachute airborne troops

Examples of airborne in a Sentence

Once the plane was airborne I loosened my seat belt. Thousands of airborne troops parachuted behind enemy lines.

Recent Examples on the Web

To get a more detailed analysis, the researchers used data collected from airborne and satellite surveys to calculate changes in a glacier's volume. — Sarah Gibbens, National Geographic, "Melting glaciers contribute a third of sea-level rise," 8 Apr. 2019 One of the back seat passengers — identified by police as Marcus Joseph, 25, of Toronto — goes airborne. — Fredrick Kunkle, Washington Post, "Passenger is ejected from vehicle in violent crash — and somehow lives to tell about it," 13 June 2018 Alex Ovechkin went airborne, Evgeny Kuznetsov flapped his arms like a bird of prey and the Washington Capitals are flying high, just two wins away from winning the Stanley Cup. — Stephen Whyno, chicagotribune.com, "Capitals flying high up 2-1 on Vegas in Stanley Cup Final," 2 June 2018 That potency is one reason why a 2015 review of epidemiologic studies and lab experiments published in the American Journal of Infection Control notes that norovirus may present the biggest risk of airborne infection from toilet plume. — Carolyn L. Todd, SELF, "What's the Most Sanitary Way to Store Your Toothbrush?," 29 Mar. 2019 Mold spores and other airborne bacteria: Wet bathrooms and kitchens are common sources. — Ann Lien, House Beautiful, "The 10 Best Air-Purifying Houseplants," 12 Mar. 2019 People do tend to think of airborne vehicles, but there’s an unmanned surface ship that’s in sea trials right now. — Angela Chen, The Verge, "A retired Navy captain explains how drones will shape the future of war," 5 Dec. 2018 Thousands of destroyers, battleships, attack vessels, and transport ships comprised the armada; the sky was a violent mirror, with airborne divisions raining down thousands of bombs simultaneously. — Paula Mclain, Town & Country, "The Extraordinary Life of Martha Gellhorn, the Woman Ernest Hemingway Tried to Erase," 12 July 2018 At the moment, the flight path, sensor payload and weapons disposal of airborne drones such as Air Force Predators and Reapers are coordinated from ground control stations. — Fox News, "Air Force brings AI to B-2, F-35 and F-15," 31 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'airborne.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.