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
Its first two carriers – the Liaoning and the Shandong – use a ski jump-style ramp to get aircraft airborne under their own power.
—
Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 26 Oct. 2025
The Nissan went into the median, going airborne and ramping off a hill, becoming inoperable, according to the probable cause statement.
—Caroline Zimmerman, Kansas City Star, 24 Oct. 2025
To test the effect of static charge on airborne nematodes, Ortega-Jiménez tethered living fruit flies to a live copper wire and adjusted the voltage between 100 and 700 volts, comparable to what insects would generate in the wild.
—Cody Cottier, Scientific American, 23 Oct. 2025
As one of the main organizers of the Tianjin exhibition, the People’s Liberation Army focused on displaying its latest aviation assault assets, featuring an array of helicopters, drones, and airborne weapon systems.
—Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 19 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for airborne
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Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 26 Oct. 2025
The Nissan went into the median, going airborne and ramping off a hill, becoming inoperable, according to the probable cause statement.
—Caroline Zimmerman, Kansas City Star, 24 Oct. 2025
To test the effect of static charge on airborne nematodes, Ortega-Jiménez tethered living fruit flies to a live copper wire and adjusted the voltage between 100 and 700 volts, comparable to what insects would generate in the wild.
—Cody Cottier, Scientific American, 23 Oct. 2025
As one of the main organizers of the Tianjin exhibition, the People’s Liberation Army focused on displaying its latest aviation assault assets, featuring an array of helicopters, drones, and airborne weapon systems.
—Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 19 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for airborne
Cite this Entry
“Airborne.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/airborne. Accessed 27 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
airborne
adjective
air·borne
ˈa(ə)r-ˌbōrn 
-ˌbȯrn,
ˈe(ə)r-
: supported or transported by air
airborne troops
Medical Definition
airborne
adjective
air·borne
-ˌbōrn
: carried or transported by the air
airborne allergens
airborne bacteria
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