dirigible
Americannoun
adjective
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
- dirigibility noun
- nondirigibility noun
- nondirigible adjective
Etymology
Origin of dirigible
First recorded in 1580–90 for the adjective and in 1885–90 for the noun; from Latin dīrigere, dēregere “to arrange, align, straighten, direct” + English adjective suffix -ible; see direct, -ible
Explanation
A dirigible is an airship, like a giant balloon in the sky that you can steer. Blimps and zeppelins are dirigibles. Dirigibles, also called airships, fly by being lighter than air. This works because a dirigible is like a big hard balloon filled with lighter-than-air gas, such as helium or hydrogen. You've probably seen dirigibles used in advertising, like the Goodyear blimp. A famous dirigible accident was the Hindenburg crash. The rock band Led Zeppelin was going to be called Led Dirigible, but it just didn't sound as cool. Just kidding.
Vocabulary lists containing dirigible
Ender's Game
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The View from Saturday
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Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Let’s Fly” exhibition, are striped, spotted, shaped like doughnuts and light up in the night sky like condensed, dirigible versions of Ugo Rondinone’s “Seven Magic Mountains” sculpture.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 4, 2024
Walter Wellmann lifted off in the dirigible “America,” only to ditch it off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, when a storm hit shortly afterward.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 25, 2022
Other inventions, which never quite succeeded, included a sailboat with an adjustable mast, a dirigible, a fiberglass ukulele and a solid-foam football, with grooves in the surface.
From Washington Post • Oct. 16, 2021
Lowman has also accessed the canopy using construction cranes and an inflatable raft attached to a dirigible.
From Salon • Sep. 26, 2021
What he saw was the German dirigible Graf Zeppelin.
From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
