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

• plane
• aeroplane [chiefly British]
• 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

Thousands of white people began to pour into Owensboro by passenger train, freight train, bus, car, airplane, and on foot. —Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2025

Byun’s visual playfulness is likewise compelling enough to compensate for the shortcuts in his storytelling — active camerawork and inventive CGI combine with Jo Hyoung-rae’s heightened cinematography to imbue the film’s airplane cabins and flight control towers with a vivid sense of theatricality. —David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 15 Oct. 2025

But these workers walked off the job entirely on Tuesday when its union, the Professional Association of Maritime and Inland Pilots (BVL), joined multiple other unions in a national work stoppage that also grounded most airplanes at the country’s two main airports. —Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 15 Oct. 2025

In the first nine months of 2025, Boeing has delivered 440 airplanes, compared with 568 in the same period of 2018, before two deadly crashes of 737 Maxes within five months of each other upended the company. —Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 14 Oct. 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