aircraft

noun

air·​craft ˈer-ˌkraft How to pronounce aircraft (audio)
plural aircraft
Synonyms of aircraftnext
often attributive
: a vehicle (such as an airplane or balloon) for traveling through the air

Examples of aircraft in a Sentence

a company that manufactures aircraft
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Ground crews and least three aircraft responded to the fire, according to Cal Fire’s incident page. — Andrew Graham, Sacbee.com, 1 July 2026 The flight landed safely, and a post-flight inspection did not reveal any damage to the aircraft, JetBlue said. — Bonny Chu , Bradford Betz, FOXNews.com, 30 June 2026 Its Western aircraft, even in limited numbers, can magnify those effects if employed as part of a broader campaign rather than as isolated tactical assets. — David A. Deptula, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026 Such systems are increasingly being explored for military aircraft, drones, autonomous platforms, and space missions. — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 30 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for aircraft

Word History

First Known Use

1845, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of aircraft was in 1845

Phrases Containing aircraft

Rhymes for aircraft

See All Rhymes for aircraft

Browse Nearby Words

air cover
aircraft
aircraft carrier
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Aircraft.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aircraft. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

aircraft

noun
air·​craft ˈa(ə)r-ˌkraft How to pronounce aircraft (audio)
ˈe(ə)r-
plural aircraft
: a machine (as an airplane, glider, or helicopter) that can travel through the air and that is supported either by its own buoyancy or by the action of the air against its surfaces
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All