: the structure of an aircraft, rocket vehicle, or missile without the power plant
also
: aircraft
Examples of airframe in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
They were created with affordability in mind so different branches of the military could use a standardized airframe with the ability to satisfy varying requirements, Stringer said.
—
Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 31 July 2025
Getting an airframe from concept to a 5,000-ft (1,500-m) elevation is nothing short of difficult, to say the least ... and prohibitively expensive.
—Joe Salas
may 07, New Atlas, 7 May 2025
China currently controls close to 90% of the global commercial drone market, and manufactures most of the key hardware used to build them—airframes, batteries, radios, cameras, screens—according to market research firm Drone Industry Insights UG.
—Sarah Whitmire, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
This can be so severe that the US Civil Air Administration once built a chicken gun that used compressed air to fire bird carcasses at airframes to simulate avian impacts.
—New Atlas, 9 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for airframe
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Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 31 July 2025
Getting an airframe from concept to a 5,000-ft (1,500-m) elevation is nothing short of difficult, to say the least ... and prohibitively expensive.
—Joe Salas
may 07, New Atlas, 7 May 2025
China currently controls close to 90% of the global commercial drone market, and manufactures most of the key hardware used to build them—airframes, batteries, radios, cameras, screens—according to market research firm Drone Industry Insights UG.
—Sarah Whitmire, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
This can be so severe that the US Civil Air Administration once built a chicken gun that used compressed air to fire bird carcasses at airframes to simulate avian impacts.
—New Atlas, 9 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for airframe
Cite this Entry
“Airframe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/airframe. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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airframe
noun
air·frame
ˈa(ə)r-ˌfrām 
ˈe(ə)r-
: the structure of an aircraft, rocket vehicle, or missile without the engine and related parts
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