air arm

noun

1. the aviation section of a national military force, including aircraft, base and support facilities, and personnel.

Word History and Origins

Origin of air arm¹

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

Butterworth served in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm during the war but was shot down in 1940, spending the rest of it as a prisoner of war.

From BBC

Before long he found himself in the Fleet Air Arm and on a ship heading to a mystery destination.

From BBC

Archival: Germany's air arm, better known as the Luftwaffe blazes the trail for the opening attacks on Holland, Belgium and tiny undefended Luxembourg.

From Scientific American

World War II: The debonair Olivier, enlisted in the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy but a pilot “of notorious incompetence,” according to the writer and editor Michael Korda, crashed his own plane twice and was demoted to target-towing, parachute-packing and recruitment demonstrations.

From New York Times

Also, the air arm tends to be regarded by the other services as suspiciously civilian-ish — as in the soldiers’ one-liner, “I have a lot of respect for the U.S. military, and also for the Air Force.”

From New York Times