flying wing

noun

, Aeronautics.

1. an airplane whose wings form almost all the airframe, with the fuselage almost or entirely within the wing structure.

flying wing

noun

1. an aircraft consisting mainly of one large wing and no fuselage or tailplane
2. (in Canadian football) the twelfth player, who has a variable position behind the scrimmage line

Word History and Origins

Origin of flying wing¹

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

The flying wing would also reduce the number of window seats.

From Ozy

Great freight planes were flying wing-to-wing, head-on for the tottering crag—deliberately smashing into the topmost point.

From Project Gutenberg

The Dahlia fruit has also a flying wing, and a great many others might be mentioned.

From Project Gutenberg

The officers and men of the naval flying wing were the only British there, and they must have seemed strange to the French people.

From Project Gutenberg

These upper wings, that are half wing cover and half flying wing, are characteristic of the bug order.

From Project Gutenberg

Then a third kind of enemy appeared—two of them at once, flying wing-and-wing—and Garlock stopped and watched.

From Project Gutenberg