airfoil

noun

air·foil | \ ˈer-ˌfȯi(-ə)l

How to pronounce airfoil (audio)

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Definition of airfoil

: a body (such as an airplane wing or propeller blade) designed to provide a desired reaction force when in motion relative to the surrounding air

Examples of airfoil in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Pratt & Whitney, which is a division of Raytheon Technologies Corp., plans to construct a 1 million-square-foot, high-tech turbine airfoil production facility. — Nyamekye Daniel, Washington Examiner, "Aerospace company to bring 800 jobs to North Carolina with a $15.5M boost from taxpayers," 23 Oct. 2020 Erickson engineers based this design partly on a late 1990s rotor-airfoil NASA study. — Eric Tegler, Popular Mechanics, "A Vietnam Helo's New Robot Brain Will Help Fight a Different Kind of Enemy," 9 Mar. 2020 The main rotor remains a 72-foot diameter, six-blade disc, but the blades are made from a carbon-fiber composite construction, each comprised of four discreet airfoils blended together. — Eric Tegler, Popular Mechanics, "A Vietnam Helo's New Robot Brain Will Help Fight a Different Kind of Enemy," 9 Mar. 2020 The curved shape of an airplane wing—called an airfoil—alters the air pressure on either side of it and ultimately produces lift. — Andrea Thompson, Scientific American, "Rooftop Wind Power Might Take Off by Using Key Principle of Flight," 21 Apr. 2020 The airfoil design generates lift across the entire fuselage rather than just the wings—meaning more power goes further—and reduces drag. — Eric Adams, Wired, "Airbus’ Maveric Brings B-2 Bomber Style to Passenger Jets," 16 Feb. 2020 What dominates the room, though, is a big, red ceiling fan, 14 feet wide with airfoil tips. — Judy Rose, Detroit Free Press, "$1.1M Shelby Township home is one of the most visually striking in SE Michigan," 23 Nov. 2019 Trailing behind that is a thin airfoil covered by the second electrode. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, "Ion drive meets drone, as small plane flies with no moving parts," 21 Nov. 2018 On either side of the body, hanging off the wing, was a series of the wire/airfoil ionizers (two rows from front to back, both in a column of four for a total of eight). — John Timmer, Ars Technica, "Ion drive meets drone, as small plane flies with no moving parts," 21 Nov. 2018

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

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Cite this Entry

“Airfoil.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/airfoil. Accessed 26 Feb. 2021.

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