heavier-than-air

[ hev-ee-er-thuhn-air ]

adjective

1. (of an aircraft) weighing more than the air that it displaces, hence having to obtain lift by aerodynamic means.

heavier-than-air

adjective

1. having a density greater than that of air
2. of or relating to an aircraft that does not depend on buoyancy for support but gains lift from aerodynamic forces

Word History and Origins

Origin of heavier-than-air¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

The extravaganza was mounted barely six years after the Wright brothers took off at Kitty Hawk, N.C. in the first heavier-than-air manned flight.

From Los Angeles Times

Safety concerns increased in 2020 after a pipeline in Mississippi ruptured in a landslide, releasing a heavier-than-air plume of carbon dioxide that displaced oxygen near the ground.

From Seattle Times

Two brothers from Dayton, Ohio, conducted four machine-powered, heavier-than-air flights under human control on a single day in December.

From Washington Post

The $2.1 billion rover will also come with the first helicopter, known as Ingenuity, that will let researchers understand the viability and potential of heavier-than-air vehicles on the Red Planet.

From Fox News

Like many scientifically minded people of that era, Christmas was infatuated with heavier-than-air flight.

From Washington Post