aviator

noun avi·a·tor \ ˈā-vē-ˌā-tər , ˈa- \

|Updated on: 19 Jun 2018

Examples: aviator in a Sentence

Definition of aviator

plural aviators

1 : the operator or pilot of an aircraft and especially an airplane

2 aviators : aviator glasses

The heat had begun to settle in, and as she hit the sidewalk, she slipped on her new sunglasses, a trendy pair of aviators.
—Susan Elizabeth Phillips

See aviator defined for English-language learners

See aviator defined for kids

Examples of aviator in a Sentence

the solo flight from New York to Paris by the aviator Charles Lindbergh captured the imagination of people around the world

Recent Examples of aviator from the Web

Bespoke, cut and sewn by hand, Harry was wearing his aviator wings and a medal honoring his service as an Apache helicopter pilot in Afghanistan.

— karla adam, Washington Post, "The royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle," 19 May 2018
Women aviators were excluded from combat missions until the month after Shults got off active duty in March 1993.

— Time, "How 'Hero' Southwest Pilot Pushed to 'Break into the Club' of Elite Navy Fighter Pilots," 19 Apr. 2018
After Bean earned an engineering degree from the University of Texas at Austin, he was commissioned in the US Navy and became first an aviator and later a test pilot.

— eric berger, Ars Technica, "Alan Bean, the fourth human to walk on the Moon, has died," 26 May 2018
Last Wednesday, Chicago aldermen Brendan Reilly and alderwoman Sophia King moved to rename Balbo Drive, named in honor of Italian aviator and fascist Italo Balbo, after Ida B. Wells-Barnett.

— kirsten west savali, The Root, "Exclusive: Ida B. Wells’ Great-Granddaughter Discusses Her Legacy, Growing Monument Campaign," 25 May 2018
The dashing aviator, who previously led the Blackshirts paramilitary units, received a hero's welcome from the Italian-American community, and the downtown street was soon rededicated in his honor.

— john greenfield, Chicago Reader, "Monument to fascist Balbo likely to remain, but aldermen could still rename street," 23 Apr. 2018
Under what the Federal Aviation Administration considers the most likely scenario, the number of commercial drones and their pilots are anticipated to substantially exceed totals for private aviators and manned aircraft.

— paul page, WSJ, "Today’s Top Supply Chain and Logistics News From WSJ," 20 Mar. 2018
Johnson, a Naval aviator and 2007 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, was piloting the jet when the incident occurred while King, a 2012 U.S. Naval Academy graduate, was serving as the Weapons Systems Operator.

— Bloomberg.com, "Navy Jet Crashes Off Key West, Killing 2 Crew Members," 16 Mar. 2018
Johnson, a Naval aviator and 2007 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, was piloting the jet when the incident occurred while King, a 2012 U.S. Naval Academy graduate, was serving as the Weapons Systems Operator.

— CBS News, "Pentagon hints budget woes possible factor in fighter jet crash off Key West," 16 Mar. 2018

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