noun · verb · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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ârʹplān'
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈɛəˌpleɪ̯n/
US:/ˈɛɹˌpleɪ̯n/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ɛə(ɹ)pleɪn
CMU ARPABET:EH1 R P L EY2 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A powered heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed wings: a fixed-wing aircraft with at least one engine or electric motor.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Canada, Philippines, US
Examples
on an airplane
jet airplane
RC airplane
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: aircraft, vehicle, craft, vessel
2
noun
Meaning 2
A powered heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed wings: a fixed-wing aircraft with at least one engine or electric motor.
One that can carry a person or persons.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Canada, Philippines, US, usually
Examples
They use airplanes to deliver mail and supplies to the far northern villages.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: aircraft, vehicle, craft, vessel
3
noun
Meaning 3
Any of various small flyable objects that are notionally comparable to such aircraft but aren't powered.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
toy airplane
paper airplane
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
A game to encourage small children to eat, in which the parent or carer pretends that a spoonful of food is an aircraft flying into the child's mouth; the spoonful itself.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Canada, Philippines, US
Examples
Near-synonym: choo-choo train
Here comes the airplane! Open wide!
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: choo-choo train
Antonyms: none provided
5
verb
Meaning 5
To fly in an aeroplane.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
verb
Meaning 6
To transport by aeroplane.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
an aircraft that has a fixed wing and is powered by propellers or jets
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
the flight was delayed due to trouble with the airplane
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h2ews- Proto-Indo-European *h2ewsér Proto-Hellenic *auhḗr Ancient Greek ᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr)bor. Latin āēr Old French airbor. Middle English aire English air ▲ Ancient Greek ᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr) Ancient Greek πλανάω (planáō) Ancient Greek -ος (-os) Ancient Greek ᾱ̓ερόπλᾰνος (āeróplănos)der. French aéroplanebor. English aeroplaneclip. English plane English airplane From air + plane as an alteration of aeroplane.
Across languages
Translations
386 source translations are retained for this English entry.