preflight
adjective
\
Definition of preflight
(Entry 1 of 3)
: preparing for or preliminary to flight (as of an aircraft) a preflight inspection
preflight
verbDefinition of preflight (Entry 2 of 3)
: to inspect (an aircraft) before a flight
preflight
nounDefinition of preflight (Entry 3 of 3)
: a preflight inspection of an aircraft
Examples of preflight in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
Her days are filled with endless studying, preflight meetings, flying, post-flight debriefings, and meeting with engineers. — Dennis Hohenberger, Courant Community, "Women Take Flight At New England Air Museum," 14 Mar. 2018 According to the NTSB, the crash stemmed from a preflight hydraulic check in which Mahany turned off a switch, cutting hydraulic pressure to the tail rotor hydraulic circuit. — Jesse Paul, The Denver Post, "Flight For Life helicopter crash in Frisco that killed pilot was caused by hydraulic issue, NTSB finds," 28 Mar. 2017Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Apparently this passenger did not pay attention to the preflight instructions or really didn’t care. — Yesha Callahan, The Root, "Southwest Flight Diverted After Passenger Tried to Join the Mile-High Weed Club," 31 May 2018 Flight attendants began helping passengers use masks as they were instructed in a preflight safety briefing, after donning their own portable breathing apparatuses, said passenger Kristopher Johnson. — Doug Cameron, WSJ, "Southwest Accident Shows Passengers Unprepared for Emergencies," 19 Apr. 2018 Airlines have tried different ways to get passengers to listen to preflight announcements. — Doug Cameron, WSJ, "Southwest Accident Shows Passengers Unprepared for Emergencies," 19 Apr. 2018 About 93 percent of the changes reverted to preflight levels within six months of Scott's return to Earth. — Sarah Kaplan, chicagotribune.com, "The truth about astronaut Scott Kelly's 'space genes'," 16 Mar. 2018 About 93 percent of the changes reverted to preflight levels within six months of Scott's return to Earth. — Sarah Kaplan, Houston Chronicle, "The truth about astronaut Scott Kelly's viral 'space genes'," 16 Mar. 2018 The change related to only 7 percent of the gene expression that changed during spaceflight that had not returned to preflight after six months on Earth. — Daniel Victor, BostonGlobe.com, "Astronauts Mark and Scott Kelly are still identical twins, despite the headlines," 16 Mar. 2018 After nearly a decade of development, the Falcon Heavy has finally reached the launch pad and undergone all of its preflight tests. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "SpaceX’s colossal Falcon Heavy has taken flight [Updated]," 6 Feb. 2018 According to DoD Buzz, which recounts the incident in detail, the pilot had completed all preflight checks and was in the process of taking off from the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsage. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "Quick-Thinking Harrier Pilot Survives Catastrophic Engine Explosion," 17 Oct. 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'preflight.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on preflight
What made you want to look up preflight? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Great Scrabble Words—A Quiz
-
- Which of the following Q-without-U words means the number five in cards or dice?
Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridgedWords at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games
-
Great Scrabble Words—A Quiz
Words to improve your Scrabble game
Take the quiz -
Which Came First? Quiz
Do you know which word is older?
Take the quiz -
True or False?
Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.
Take the quiz -
Dictionary Devil
The dictionary has been scrambled—can you put it back together?
Play the game
Share preflight
Resources for preflight