airplane

noun

air·​plane ˈer-ˌplān 

: a powered heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed wings from which it derives most of its lift

Illustration of airplane

• 1 weather radar
• 2 cockpit
• 3 jet engine
• 4 engine pod
• 5 pylon
• 6 wing
• 7 vertical stabilizer
• 8 rudder
• 9 10 tabs
• 11 elevator
• 12 horizontal stabilizer
• 13 inboard flap
• 14 inboard spoiler
• 15 16 tabs
• 17 aileron
• 18 outboard flap
• 19 outboard spoiler
• 20 sound suppressor
• 21 thrust reverser
• 22 cabin air intake
• 23 fuselage
• 24 nose landing gear

Synonyms of airplane

• plane
• aeroplane
• airliner

Examples of airplane in a Sentence

my uncle learned how to fly an airplane while serving in the air force

Recent Examples on the Web

Video released by Australia’s transport safety agency on Thursday shows the harrowing moment when a skydiver’s parachute was caught on the tail of an airplane before a jump in September. —Max Saltman, CNN Money, 11 Dec. 2025

This year, the Gary Sinise Foundation and American Airlines sent nearly 1,600 family members on 10 chartered airplanes to Disney World. —Nashville Tennessean, 11 Dec. 2025

Guillow's model airplanes and gliders. —Chris Tanaka, CBS News, 11 Dec. 2025

Icing severity Icing severity, or the effect that ice has on an airplane's ability to fly, is expected to be most severe across parts of Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana, as well as Michigan's Upper Peninsula. —Anna Skinner, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

alteration of aeroplane

First Known Use

1906, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing airplane

• airplane mode

Rhymes for airplane

• abstain
• alkane
• arcane
• arraign
• attain
• backplane
• betaine
• biplane
• blockchain
• butane
• campaign
• cetane

Kids Definition

airplane

noun

air·​plane ˈa(ə)r-ˌplān 

ˈe(ə)r-

: a fixed-wing heavier-than-air aircraft that is driven by a propeller or by a forceful stream of gases backward and is supported by the reaction of the air against its wings