quadcopter
noun
quad·cop·ter
ˈkwäd-ˌkäp-tər 
plural quadcopters
: a drone (see drone entry 1 sense 2) deriving lift from four separate rotors each oriented about a vertical axis : quadrotor
It's a quadcopter, meaning it's a miniature helicopter with four rotors; basically it looks like a giant four-leaf clover designed by Darth Vader.—
Lev Grossman
Lev GrossmanA remote control quadcopter-type model helicopter flew directly through the U.S. Coast Guard base at the Arcata-Eureka Airport in McKinleyville on Saturday afternoon …—Eureka Times Standard (California)
Eureka Times Standard (California)Examples of quadcopter in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Standard consumer quadcopters like the ubiquitous DJI Mavic series are designed to be flown out of the box by an untrained user.
—David Hambling, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024
Two years into Russia’s wider war on Ukraine, explosive drones—loitering airplane-style models as well as first-person-view quadcopters—are among the biggest threats to armored vehicles on both sides.
—David Axe, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024
Hebert was operating a DJI Mini 2 model, advertised as an ultralight and foldable drone quadcopter, on sale for nearly $400 by Amazon, according to the affidavit.
—Dillon Mullan, Baltimore Sun, 6 Feb. 2024
The cheap and widespread availability of quadcopters has changed how squads scout and fight, as hobbyist toys are turned by the tens of thousands into short-range eyes in the sky.
—Popular Science, 29 Nov. 2023
Again, civilian-style quadcopters fitted with explosives and uprated batteries carried out the attack.
—Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 24 Aug. 2023
This ends years in which the US Army struggled to find a quadcopter that works in the field, but didn’t have the risks associated with being an off-the-shelf toy pressed into military use.
—Popular Science, 29 Nov. 2023
Individual Ukrainian hobbyists have also been steering small quadcopters, some with wingspans no larger than twelve centimetres, to crash into and destroy Russian weapons.
—Sue Halpern, The New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2023
In the dense urban battlefield of Gaza, the Israeli military has been flying these quadcopters—essentially small helicopters with four rotors—into buildings before sending in soldiers.
—Dov Lieber, WSJ, 29 Dec. 2023
David Hambling, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024
Two years into Russia’s wider war on Ukraine, explosive drones—loitering airplane-style models as well as first-person-view quadcopters—are among the biggest threats to armored vehicles on both sides.
—David Axe, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024
Hebert was operating a DJI Mini 2 model, advertised as an ultralight and foldable drone quadcopter, on sale for nearly $400 by Amazon, according to the affidavit.
—Dillon Mullan, Baltimore Sun, 6 Feb. 2024
The cheap and widespread availability of quadcopters has changed how squads scout and fight, as hobbyist toys are turned by the tens of thousands into short-range eyes in the sky.
—Popular Science, 29 Nov. 2023
Again, civilian-style quadcopters fitted with explosives and uprated batteries carried out the attack.
—Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 24 Aug. 2023
This ends years in which the US Army struggled to find a quadcopter that works in the field, but didn’t have the risks associated with being an off-the-shelf toy pressed into military use.
—Popular Science, 29 Nov. 2023
Individual Ukrainian hobbyists have also been steering small quadcopters, some with wingspans no larger than twelve centimetres, to crash into and destroy Russian weapons.
—Sue Halpern, The New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2023
In the dense urban battlefield of Gaza, the Israeli military has been flying these quadcopters—essentially small helicopters with four rotors—into buildings before sending in soldiers.
—Dov Lieber, WSJ, 29 Dec. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'quadcopter.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Quadcopter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quadcopter. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
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