Helicopter
//ˈheliˌkɔptə(ɹ)// noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An aircraft that is borne along by one or more sets of long rotating blades which allow it to hover, move in any direction including reverse, or land; and typically having a smaller set of blades on its tail to stabilize the aircraft.
"We flew over the city in a helicopter."
- 2 an aircraft without wings that obtains its lift from the rotation of overhead blades wordnet
- 3 A powered troweling machine with spinning blades used to spread concrete.
- 4 The winged fruit of certain trees, such as ash, elm, and maple.
- 5 A dragonfly; so named due to its resemblance to a helicopter (sense 1). slang
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- 6 A whirling trick performed with devil sticks.
- 7 A breakdance move in which the dancer spins on the floor while extending the legs to resemble the blades of a helicopter.
Verb
- 1 To transport by helicopter. transitive
"Car drivers were helicoptered to safety from nearby roads. There were photographs of people canoeing down streets."
- 2 To travel by helicopter. intransitive
- 3 To rotate like a helicopter blade.
"helicoptering his jacket, helicoptering his arms"
- 4 To overprotect one's children, as a helicopter parent does.
"Near-synonym: hover"
Example
More examples"A helicopter is able to take off and land straight up and down."
Etymology
Borrowed from French hélicoptère, from Ancient Greek ἕλιξ (hélix, “spiral”) + πτερόν (pterón, “wing”). Doublet of helicopteron. By surface analysis, helico- + -pter. The dragonfly sense is from a dragonfly's ability to hover and fly in any direction, like the flying machine.
Related phrases
More for "helicopter"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.