noun
aircraft
A vehicle that travels through the air.
A small aircraft circles the field before coming in to land.
Etymology
Air identifies the medium of travel, while craft uses the sense of a vessel. Their combination extends the vocabulary of waterborne vessels to vehicles that fly.
More examples
- Several aircraft waited for clearance to take off.
- The museum displays an early passenger aircraft.
- Cargo aircraft carried supplies to the remote island.
Forms
aircraft
Similar words
- airplane
- Specifies a powered fixed-wing aircraft, excluding helicopters and balloons.
- airship
- Specifies a powered aircraft kept aloft by buoyant gas.