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airstrip

American  
[air-strip] / ˈɛərˌstrɪp /

noun

  1. a small landing field having only one runway.

  2. a temporary or auxiliary aircraft runway.

airstrip British  
/ ˈɛəˌstrɪp /

noun

  1. Also called: landing strip.  a cleared area for the landing and taking off of aircraft; runway

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of airstrip

First recorded in 1940–45; air 1 + strip 2

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.

Today it is home to an empty airstrip and the rusty remains of buildings, vehicles and hundreds of fuel drums, nicknamed American flowers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026

In the 1970s, building an airstrip on the high grasslands of Bangda, near India’s northeastern border, involved 16,000 people and 89 deaths.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025

The informant also sent Sánchez a video of a Cessna landing on a rudimentary airstrip near the mine.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 6, 2025

Because Alligator Alcatraz is housed near an airstrip, he said the facility is intended to facilitate quick deportations.

From Salon • Jul. 17, 2025

Instead of circling right around and coming down on the airstrip, he tried to land among the trees on the far side of the Ruaha River.

From "My Life with the Chimpanzees" by Jane Goodall

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.