propeller

American  

[pruh-pel-er] / prəˈpɛl ər /

noun

1. a device having a revolving hub with radiating blades, for propelling an airplane, ship, etc.

2. a person or thing that propels.

3. the bladed rotor of a pump that drives the fluid axially.

4. a wind-driven, usually three-bladed, device that provides mechanical energy, as for driving an electric alternator in wind plants.

---

propeller British  

/ prəˈpɛlə /

noun

1. a device having blades radiating from a central hub that is rotated to produce thrust to propel a ship, aircraft, etc

2. a person or thing that propels

---

propeller Scientific  

/ prə-pĕl′ər /

1. A device consisting of a set of two or more twisted, airfoil-shaped blades mounted around a shaft and spun to provide propulsion of a vehicle through water or air, or to cause fluid flow, as in a pump. The lift generated by the spinning blades provides the force that propels the vehicle or the fluid—the lift does not have to result in an actual upward force; its direction is simply parallel to the rotating shaft.

---

Etymology

Origin of propeller

First recorded in 1770–80; propel + -er ¹

Explanation

A propeller is a rounded blade that rotates in a circle, helping to move a vehicle by pushing against water or air. A speed boat's propeller moves it forward by spinning against the water. Propellers use the laws of physics to propel, or drive forward, an aircraft or a boat. The basic structure of a propeller is a spinning or rotating shaft with wide, curved blades attached to it. The very simplest propellers were first used in ancient Greece, where the inventor Archimedes invented a "screw propeller" that moved water for irrigating crops.

Example Sentences

Ben Montgomery, an enslaved man, developed an improved steamship propeller in 1854 but couldn’t patent it.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026

The flagellum comprises more than 30 distinct parts, so similar to those of an outboard motor that biologists speak of the flagellum’s propeller, drive shaft and so forth.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

Its international airport — which only recently reopened — has the remains of propeller planes carelessly tossed to the side of the runway, their bodies riddled with bullet holes and their wings askew.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2026

In 1980, the Warrior was seized by the Spanish navy, who removed a thrust bearing from the propeller shaft and held the ship for $142,000 bail.

From Slate • Jul. 22, 2025

It was dead low water now, and the ship was heeled at an angle, the propeller showing clean.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier

Related Words

• screw