Standard Lemma guide

propeller

noun · 5 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /pɹəˈpɛl.ə/
  • Canada, General-American: /pɹəˈpɛl.ɚ/
  • California: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian, New-Zealand: /pɹəˈpel.ə/
  • CMU ARPABET: P R AH0 P EH1 L ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

One who, or that which, propels.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A mechanical device with evenly-shaped blades that turn on a shaft to push against air or water, especially one used to propel an aircraft or boat.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The plane’s propeller spun rapidly before takeoff.
  • The boat is powered by a single propeller.
  • He repaired the damaged propeller after the storm.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A steamboat thus propelled; a screw steamer.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A spinnerbait.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: fishing, hobbies, lifestyle

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

a mechanical device that rotates to push against air or water

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: propellor

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: mechanical device

Narrower terms: airplane propeller, airscrew, prop, screw, screw propeller, variable-pitch propeller

History

Etymology

From propel + -er.

Across languages

Translations

109 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: skroef — mechanical device used to propel
  • Albanian: helikë — mechanical device used to propel
  • Arabic: مِرْوَحَة (mirwaḥa) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Arabic: مِدْسَرَة (midsara) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Armenian: պտուտակ (ptutak) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Armenian: պրոպելեր (propeler) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Azerbaijani: pervane — mechanical device used to propel
  • Azerbaijani: propeller — mechanical device used to propel
  • Basque: helize — mechanical device used to propel
  • Belarusian: пропе́лер (propjéljer) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Belarusian: вінт (vint) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Bulgarian: пе́рка (pérka) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Bulgarian: пропе́лер (propéler) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Burmese: ငါးမန်းတောင် (nga:man:taung) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Burmese: ပန်ကာ (panka) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Catalan: hèlice — mechanical device used to propel
  • Chechen: бер (ber) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Chinese Mandarin: 螺旋槳 /螺旋桨 (luóxuánjiǎng) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Czech: vrtule — mechanical device used to propel
  • Danish: propel — mechanical device used to propel
  • Dutch: schroef — mechanical device used to propel
  • Dutch: propeller — mechanical device used to propel
  • Esperanto: helico — mechanical device used to propel
  • Estonian: propeller — mechanical device used to propel
  • Faroese: skrúva — mechanical device used to propel
  • Finnish: potkuri — mechanical device used to propel
  • French: hélice — mechanical device used to propel
  • Galician: hélice — mechanical device used to propel
  • Georgian: პროპელერი (ṗroṗeleri) — mechanical device used to propel
  • German: Propeller — mechanical device used to propel
  • German: Luftschraube — mechanical device used to propel
  • German: Schiffschraube — mechanical device used to propel
  • German: Schraube — mechanical device used to propel
  • Greek: έλικας (élikas) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Greek: προπέλα (propéla) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Hebrew: מַדְחֵף (madkhéf) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Hindi: नोदक (nodak) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Hindi: प्रोपेलर (propelar) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Hungarian: légcsavar — mechanical device used to propel
  • Icelandic: loftskrúfa — mechanical device used to propel
  • Ido: helico — mechanical device used to propel
  • Indonesian: baling-baling — mechanical device used to propel
  • Italian: elica — mechanical device used to propel
  • Italian: propulsore (ad elica) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Japanese: プロペラ (puropera) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Japanese: 推進器 (suishinki) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Kapampangan: elesi — mechanical device used to propel
  • Kapampangan: elisi — mechanical device used to propel
  • Kazakh: пропеллер (propeller) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Kazakh: ауа винті (aua vintı) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Khmer: កង្ហារ (kɑɑkɑnghaa) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Korean: 프로펠러 (peuropelleo) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Korean: 추진기 (chujin'gi) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Northern Kurdish: perwane — mechanical device used to propel
  • Kyrgyz: пропеллер (propeller) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Lao: ໃບພັດ (bai phat) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Latin: helix — mechanical device used to propel
  • Latvian: propelleris — mechanical device used to propel
  • Lithuanian: propeleris — mechanical device used to propel
  • Macedonian: пропеле́р (propelér) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Malay: baling-baling — mechanical device used to propel
  • Malay: bebaling — mechanical device used to propel
  • Māori: hurirere — mechanical device used to propel
  • Mongolian: сэнс (sens) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Mongolian: ᠰᠡᠩᠰᠡ (sengse) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Norwegian Bokmål: propell — mechanical device used to propel
  • Pashto: پروانه (parwāna) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Persian: پروانه (parvâne) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Plautdietsch: Loftschruw — mechanical device used to propel
  • Polish: śmigło — mechanical device used to propel
  • Polish: śruba — mechanical device used to propel
  • Portuguese: propulsor — mechanical device used to propel
  • Portuguese: hélice — mechanical device used to propel
  • Quechua: pillinku — mechanical device used to propel
  • Romanian: elice — mechanical device used to propel
  • Russian: пропе́ллер (propéller) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Russian: винт (vint) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Russian: возду́шный винт (vozdúšnyj vint) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Scots: sparrair — mechanical device used to propel
  • Serbo-Croatian: пропѐле̄р — mechanical device used to propel
  • Serbo-Croatian: елѝса — mechanical device used to propel
  • Serbo-Croatian: propèlēr — mechanical device used to propel
  • Serbo-Croatian: elìsa — mechanical device used to propel
  • Slovak: skrutka — mechanical device used to propel
  • Slovak: vrtuľa — mechanical device used to propel
  • Slovene: propeller — mechanical device used to propel
  • Spanish: propulsor — mechanical device used to propel
  • Spanish: hélice — mechanical device used to propel
  • Spanish: propela — mechanical device used to propel
  • Swahili: rafardha — mechanical device used to propel
  • Swedish: propeller — mechanical device used to propel
  • Tagalog: elise — mechanical device used to propel
  • Tagalog: elesi — mechanical device used to propel
  • Tajik: пропеллер (propeller) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Thai: ใบพัด (bai-pát) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Tibetan: འབུད་འཁོར ('bud 'khor) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Tibetan: འཕུལ་འདེད་རླུང་འཁོར ('phul 'ded rlung 'khor) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Turkish: pervane — mechanical device used to propel
  • Ottoman Turkish: پروانه (pervane) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Ukrainian: пропе́лер (propéler) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Ukrainian: гвинт (hvynt) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Urdu: پروپیلر (propelar) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Uyghur: پروپېللېر (propëllër) — mechanical device used to propel
  • Uzbek: propeller — mechanical device used to propel
  • Uzbek: parrak — mechanical device used to propel
  • Vietnamese: cánh quạt — mechanical device used to propel
  • Vietnamese: chân vịt — mechanical device used to propel
  • Welsh: gwthiedydd — mechanical device used to propel
  • Zulu: kulufu — mechanical device used to propel
Real reading context

propeller in complete knowledge articles