winglet

[ wing-lit ]

noun

1. a little wing.
2. Zoology. alula.
3. Aeronautics.
   1. a small wing used mainly to carry external loads or to connect struts or gears to the fuselage.
   2. a short, near-vertical projection on a wing tip that reduces drag and improves fuel efficiency.

winglet

/ ˈwɪŋlɪt /

noun

1. a small wing, esp the bastard wing of a bird
2. a small wing placed at the tip of the main wing of an aircraft and perpendicular to it designed to reduce the aircraft's vortex drag

Word History and Origins

Origin of winglet¹

First recorded in 1605–15; wing + -let

Example Sentences

JetBlue Flight 777 was entering a de-icing pad lane before taking off for Las Vegas when its left winglet struck the right horizontal stabilizer on the tail of JetBlue Flight 551, which was on an adjacent de-icing pad on its way to Orlando, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

From New York Times

A winglet may have been damaged on one of the planes, reports said.

From Seattle Times

“Bee-lieve it or not, Delta flight 1682 from Houston-Bush to Atlanta took a delay yesterday afternoon after a friendly group of bees evidently wanted to talk shop with the winglet of our airplanes, no doubt to share the latest about flying conditions at the airport,” the airline said.

From Washington Times

The portion of the 757’s wingtip that points up, the winglet, was snapped off, reported New York’s WNBC-TV.

From Washington Times

The drone was mislabeled on a winglet as a Geran-2 Russian-made drone, Kulagin said.

From Seattle Times