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). |