airborne

adjective

air·​borne ˈer-ˌbȯrn 

1

: done or being in the air : being off the ground: such as

a

: carried through the air (as by an aircraft)

b

: supported especially by aerodynamic forces or propelled through the air by force

a plane becoming airborne

c

: transported or carried by the air

airborne allergens

2

: trained for deployment by air and especially by parachute

airborne troops

Examples of airborne in a Sentence

Once the plane was airborne I loosened my seat belt.

Thousands of airborne troops parachuted behind enemy lines.

Recent Examples on the Web

Back in the sunflower field, once the drones were airborne, the soldiers packed up their equipment and drove away, leaving hardly any traces of their activity. — ABC News, 19 Aug. 2026

The track will help engineers evaluate airborne expendable countermeasures before moving them into costly flight tests. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 19 Aug. 2026

Drinkhouse, a former hotshot firefighter, has been working as an airborne fire spotter for the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention & Control for eight seasons. — Brian Maass, CBS News, 14 Aug. 2026

Their tri-rotor drone takes off and lands vertically like a multi-rotor aircraft, but once airborne transitions to forward flight via smaller propellers mounted horizontally on each of its rotor blades. — New Atlas, 14 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1637, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for airborne

• adorn
• blackthorn
• broomcorn
• buckhorn
• buckthorn
• careworn
• firstborn
• foodborne
• forborne
• forewarn
• forlorn
• forsworn

Kids Definition

airborne

adjective

air·​borne ˈa(ə)r-ˌbōrn 

-ˌbȯrn, 

ˈe(ə)r-

: supported or transported by air

airborne troops

Medical Definition

airborne

adjective

air·​borne -ˌbōrn 

: carried or transported by the air

airborne allergens

airborne bacteria