Now updated for CSW19. New words, if any, and new inflections of existing words, are shown in red.
aero | (Relating to) aircraft or aeronautics. |
aerobat | a person who does stunt flying. |
aerobatic | relating to the art of performing stunts in the air. |
aerobot | an unmanned gas-filled craft used to conduct experiments in planetary atmospheres. |
aerobrake | to use a planet's atmosphere to reduce the speed of a spacecraft. |
aeroduct | a type of jet engine. |
aerodyne | a heavier-than-air aircraft (as an airplane, helicopter, or glider), as opposed to aerostat. |
aerofoil | a structure which gives rise to a lift force when moving through the air, eg a wing of an aircraft. |
aerohydroplane | a winged hydroplane or flying-boat. |
aeromotor | an engine for aircraft. |
aeroplane | a flying machine. |
aeropulse | a type of jet engine. |
aerosat | a satellite for use in air-traffic control. |
aeroshell | a form of parachute to enable a space vehicle to make a soft landing. |
aerospike | a rocket engine with a specially designed nozzle that allows the exhaust gases to expand and so to be used most efficiently. |
aerostat | any lighter-than-air craft eg a blimp or balloon, as opposed to an aerodyne. |
aerostation | ballooning. |
aerotrain | a train driven by an aircraft engine, riding on a cushion of air. |
afterburning | reheat, the use of a device to inject fuel into the hot exhaust gases of a turbojet in order to obtain increased thrust. |
aileron | (Fr.) a hinged flap on the trailing edge of an airplane wing that moves up or down for purposes of lateral balance. |
airbase | a centre for aircraft. |
airborne | carried on air. |
airbus | (Tradename) an aeroplane that provides the equivalent of a bus service. |
aircoach | the cheaper class of accommodation in commercial aircraft. |
aircraft | any machine or device capable of flying. |
aircrew | the crew of an aircraft. |
airdrop | a delivery of goods by air; (verb) to make a delivery of goods by air. |
airfield | an airport. |
airfoil | a structure which gives rise to a lift force when moving through the air, eg a wing of an aircraft. |
airframe | the body of an aircraft as opposed to its engine. |
airfreight | to transport freight by air in volume. |
airlift | the transportation by air of passengers, troops, cargo, etc., esp when other routes are blocked; (verb) to transport by airlift. |
airline | an air transportation system. |
airliner | a large passenger aircraft. |
airlock | an obstructing bubble in a pipe. |
airmobile | relating to a military unit whose members are transported by air. No -S. |
airpark | a small airport. |
airplane | a winged aircraft propelled by jet engines or propellers. |
airport | a tract of land maintained for the landing and takeoff of aircraft. |
airprox | a near collision between aircraft in flight. |
airscrew | an aircraft propeller. |
airship | a lighter-than-air aircraft having propulsion and steering systems. |
airside | that part of an airport having direct access to the apron. |
airspace | the portion of the atmosphere above a particular land area. |
airspeed | the speed of a flying creature or object. |
airstop | a stopping place for helicopters. |
airstrip | a runway. |
airtram | an aerial cable car. |
airwise | skilled in aviation. |
airworthy | suitable for flying. |
anhedral | denoting the angle at which the main planes of an aircraft are inclined downwards to the lateral axis; (noun) the downward inclination of an aircraft's wing. |
athodyd | a type of jet engine. |
autoflare | an aircraft automatic landing system. |
autogiro | (Spanish) a rotating wing aircraft. |
autogyro | (Spanish) a rotating wing aircraft. |
autopilot | a device which can be set to guide and control an aircraft or a ship on a chosen course. |
aviate | to fly mechanically. |
aviatic | pertaining to aviation. |
aviation | the act of aviating. |
aviette | (Hist.) an aeroplane driven by manpower, a kind of glider. |
avion | (Fr.) an aeroplane. |
avionic | of or pertaining to avionics, the science of electronic devices for aircraft. |
avionics | the science of electronic devices for aircraft. |
backout | a reversal of launching procedures. |
ballonet | in a balloon or dirigible, a small bag into which air is force or released. |
ballute | a small inflatable parachute. |
battleplane | a plane used in war. |
biplane | a plane with two wings. |
birdfarm | (US coll.) an aircraft carrier. |
bizjet | a small airplane used for business. |
blastoff | the launch of a rocket. |
blimp | a small nonrigid airship; a barrage balloon; (verb) to swell out. |
bomber | an aeroplane that carries bombs. |
booster | an engine that gives extra power eg on a rocket. |
chandelle | (Fr.) an abrupt, climbing turn of an airplane; (verb) to perform this manoeuvre. |
chutist | a parachutist. |
coleopter | an aircraft that has an annular wing with the fuselage and engine on the centre line. |
combustor | the system in a jet engine by which combustion takes place. |
contrail | a condensation trail, as left by eg a jet aeroplane. |
convertaplane | an aircraft that can land and take off vertically by temporarily directing its propulsive thrust downwards. |
convertiplane | an aircraft that can land and take off vertically by temporarily directing its propulsive thrust downwards. |
convertoplane | an aircraft that can land and take off vertically by temporarily directing its propulsive thrust downwards. |
copter | (Short for) a helicopter. |
cosmodrome | a launching-site for spacecraft. |
cosmonaut | a Russian astronaut. |
cropduster | an aircraft that sprays crops from the air. |
cyclogiro | an aircraft lifted and propelled by pivoted blades. |
deceleron | a type of aileron. |
deplane | to disembark from an aeroplane. |
dirigibility | the state of being dirigible. |
dirigible | that can be directed; (noun) a dirigible balloon or airship. |
drome | (Coll.) an aerodrome. |
dustoff | a military helicopter for evacuating the wounded. |
elevon | a hinged flap on the trailing edge of a delta wing, taking the place of both aileron and elevator in a conventional aircraft. |
empennage | (Fr.) the tail assembly of an airplane. |
emplane | to put or take on an aeroplane. |
enplane | to put or take on an aeroplane. |
fanjet | a type of jet engine. |
fishtail | to swing the tail of an aircraft or the back of a vehicle from side to side (in aircraft to reduce the landing speed). |
flameout | the extinction of a flame in a jet engine, causing it to lose power. |
flaperon | a control flap on an aircraft wing. |
flattop | an aircraft carrier; a modified crewcut. |
flier | one that flies. |
floatplane | a seaplane. |
flyable | that can be flown. |
flyby | a flight at low altitude to inspect something. |
footbar | in a plane, the bar controlled by the pilot's foot for operating the rudder. |
formate | to join or fly in a formation. |
fuselage | (Fr.) the elongated body section of an aeroplane, containing the crew and passengers or cargo. |
glidepath | the path followed by an aircraft coming in to land. |
glider | a type of aircraft. |
groundprox | an altitude warning system in aircraft. |
groundspeed | the speed of an aircraft relative to the ground. |
gyrocopter | an airplane balanced and supported by the aerodynamic forces acting on rapidly rotating horizontal or slightly inclined airfoils. |
gyrodyne | a rotorcraft in which the rotors are powered only for takeoff and landing, not for cruising flight. |
gyropilot | a type of automatic pilot. |
gyroplane | an airplane balanced and supported by the aerodynamic forces acting on rapidly rotating horizontal or slightly inclined airfoils. |
hangar | a large shed or building for aircraft, carriages, etc; (verb) to place in an aircraft shelter. |
hangarage | a combined hangar and garage. |
hedgehop | of a plane, to fly at ground level. |
heliborne | carried by helicopter. |
helibus | a helicopter bus. |
helicopt | to convey by helicopter. |
helicopter | a flying machine sustained by rotating blades revolving on a vertical axis above the machine; (verb) to travel by helicopter. |
helideck | a landing area for a helicopter. |
helidrome | an airport for helicopters. |
helilift | to transport by helicopter. |
helipad | a landing pad for a helicopter. |
heliport | an airport for helicopters. |
helistop | a landing-place for a helicopter. |
helo | a helicopter. |
hoverport | a port for hovercraft. |
hydroski | a plate attached to a seaplane to facilitate takeoff and landings. |
hypersonic | flying at more than five times the speed of sound. |
hypersonically | (Adv.) HYPERSONIC, flying at more than five times the speed of sound. |
inflight | done during an air voyage. |
jato | a jet-assisted takeoff. |
jetfoil | a hydrofoil powered by a jet of water. |
jetlike | resembling a jet. |
jetliner | a type of aircraft. |
jetport | a type of airport. |
jetway | (Tradename) a mobile elevated gangway connecting an aircraft to a departure gate. |
liftoff | the initial movement of ascent of a rocket from its launch pad. |
lightplane | a small and comparatively lightweight airplane. |
longeron | (Fr.) the longitudinal membrane of an airplane. |
microjet | a light jet-propelled aircraft. |
microlight | a very light aircraft. |
monocoque | (Fr.) an aircraft structure in which the outer skin carries all or most of the torsional and bending stresses; a car structure in which the body is integral with and shares the stresses with the chassis. |
monoplane | an aeroplane or glider with one set of wings. |
montgolfier | (Fr.) a balloon using fire for propulsion. |
mooncraft | a lunar module. |
moonship | a lunar module. |
moonshot | the launching of a spacecraft to the moon. |
moonstrike | the act of landing a spacecraft on the surface of the moon. |
multijet | having more than two jets. |
multiplane | an aeroplane with more than two sets of supporting planes. |
nacelle | (Fr.) a structure on the wing of an airplane containing the engine. |
nonsked | a nonscheduled airline or cargo plane. |
nosedive | of a plane, to dive straight down. |
nosewheel | the single wheel at the front of an aircraft. |
orbiter | a spacecraft that orbits. |
ornithopter | a birdlike archaic flying machine. |
orthopter | a type of aircraft propelled with flapping wings. |
outfly | to surpass in flying. |
outwing | to surpass, exceed, or outstrip in flying. |
overfly | to fly over. |
parabrake | a parachute as used to slow an aeroplane. |
parachute | a large fabric umbrella-like canopy, used where resistance to air is needed; (verb) to descend by parachute. |
parachutic | relating to a parachute. |
paradrop | to drop by parachute. |
parafoil | a form of steerable parachute. |
paraglide | to glide through the air on a special parachute. |
paraglider | a glider with inflatable wings. |
parawing | a form of parachute. |
planeside | the area next to an aeroplane. |
preboard | to board an aircraft before other passengers. |
propjet | a jet aeroplane having a turbine-driven propeller. |
pulsejet | in jet propulsion, an intermittent jet. |
pulsojet | in jet propulsion, an intermittent jet. |
quadcopter | a pilotless four-rotor helicopter. |
ramjet | a form of aero-engine. |
rato | rocket-assisted takeoff. |
refly | to fly again. |
renversement | (Fr.) an aeroplane manoeuvre consisting of a half-loop effected simultaneously with a half-turn. |
resojet | a pulsejet. |
retrofire | to cause a retro-rocket to become ignited. |
retropack | a system of auxiliary rockets on a spacecraft. |
rigid | stiff (noun) a rigid airship |
rigidly | (Adv.) RIGID, stiff. |
rogallo | a flexible fabric delta wing, orig designed as a possible satellite retrieval vehicle but actually developed in the 1960s as the first successful hang-glider. |
rotaplane | a rotor plane. |
rotorcraft | a helicopter or autogyro. |
runway | a landing and takeoff strip for aircraft. |
sailplane | a glider that can rise with an upward current; (verb) to fly using a sailplane. |
sailplaner | one who flies a sailplane. |
scramjet | a type of jet engine using compressed air. |
seadrome | a floating aerodrome. |
seaplane | an airplane designed to take off from or land on the water. |
servocontrol | in aircraft, a reinforcing mechanism for the pilot's effort, usually a small auxiliary aerofoil. |
shockstall | (Aeronautics) a loss of lift at high speed caused by the formation of shock waves. |
sikorsky | a kind of helicopter. |
skiplane | a plane that lands on skis. |
skyborne | airborne. |
soarer | a person who or thing which soars; spec. an aircraft designed for soaring, a glider. |
soyuz | (Russian) a Soviet spacecraft. |
spacefaring | voyaging in space. |
spaceflight | flight beyond the earth's atmosphere. |
spaceplane | an aircraft that can fly in space. |
spaceport | a place from which spacecraft are launched. |
spaceship | a spacecraft. |
splashdown | a landing in the sea eg of a spacecraft. |
spyplane | a plane used for surveillance flights. |
stackup | an arrangement of circling airplanes over an airport waiting to land. |
starship | a fictional spacecraft. |
stolport | an airport for aircraft needing comparatively short runways. |
stratotanker | a type of aeroplane which refuels other planes at high altitudes. |
superbomber | a very large bomber. |
superjet | a type of jet airplane. |
superjumbo | a very large airliner. |
superplane | a very large plane. |
sweepback | the angle at which an aircraft wing is set back relative to the axis. |
sweptback | of an aircraft, with sweptback wings. |
sweptwing | with sweptback wings; (noun) an aircraft with sweptback wings. |
swingarm | the part of a motorcycle chassis to which the rear wheel is attached. |
swingtail | as in swingtail cargo aircraft, an aircraft with tail that swings aside to give access to the full cross-section of the fuselage for rapid loading and unloading of cargo. |
taikonaut | a Chinese astronaut. |
taileron | either part of a two-piece tailplane whose two halves can operate independently or together. |
tailhook | a hook lowered from the tail of an aircraft to engage a braking cable. |
tailplane | a horizontal aerofoil on the tail of an aircraft. |
tailskid | a support under the tailplane of an aeroplane on the ground. |
tailslide | an aerobatic manoeuvre in which an aircraft that has been put into a steep climb stalls and loses height by slipping backwards. |
tailspin | a kind of spin in an aeroplane; (verb) to perform this. |
takeoff | the act of leaving the ground. |
tankbuster | a plane that specialises in attacking tanks. |
tankbusting | the use of a tankbuster, a plane that specialises in attacking tanks. |
taube | (Ger.) a German monoplane with recurved wings. |
taxiplane | an aircraft that is available for hire. |
tiltrotor | an aircraft with rotors that can be tilted. |
towplane | an aeroplane that tows gliders. |
trijet | an aircraft having three jet engines. |
trimotor | an airplane powered by three engines. |
trimtab | a tab or aerofoil on an aircraft that can be adjusted in mid-passage to trim the flight. |
triplane | a plane with three wings. |
turbofan | a fan connected to or driven by a turbine; spec. such a fan used to drive air around the exhaust gases of a jet engine to give additional thrust. |
turbojet | a type of jet engine in which the jet gases also power a turbine-driven compressor for compressing the air drawn into the engine. |
turboprop | a jet engine in which the turbine is coupled to a propeller. |
twinjet | a plane with twin jet engines. |
ufo | an unidentified flying object. |
undercart | (Coll.) an aircraft's landing-gear, the undercarriage. |
vector | a directed quantity; (verb) to direct an aircraft in flight to the required destination. |
vertiport | an airport designed for vertical takeoff and landing. |
volery | a place for aircraft repair. |
volplane | to glide through the air. |
waftage | transportation through water or air. |
warbird | a vintage military aircraft, no longer in active use. |
warplane | a plane used in warfare. |
washin | an increase in the angle of attack of an aircraft's wings towards the wingtips. |
waveoff | the act of denying permision to an approaching aircraft wishing to land. |
whipstall | of an airplane, to stall causing the nose to whip forward and down. |
whirlybird | (Sl.) a helicopter. |
widebody | having a wide fuselage; (noun) an aircraft having a wide fuselage. |
wingbeat | the motion of a bird's wing. |
wingover | a flight manoeuvre. |
yaw | of eg a plane, to move from right to left in a horizontal plane. |
yawmeter | an instrument for measuring yaw. |
zeppelin | (Ger.) a dirigible, cigar-shaped airship of the type designed by Count Zeppelin (c.1900). |