What does "hovercraft" mean?

A vehicle supported on a cushion of air, able to traverse many different types of terrain and travel over water, used for transport.

What is a synonym for "hovercraft"?

Common synonyms include: acv, acv, air cushion vehicle, air-cushion vehicle, airplane, craft.

Pronounced //ˈhɒv.ə.kɹɑːft//.

//ˈhɒv.ə.kɹɑːft// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A vehicle supported on a cushion of air, able to traverse many different types of terrain and travel over water, used for transport.
"The snapshot shows the whale parallel above the water almost as if it’s competing in belly-flop contest, doing a midair plank or floating across the bay like a hovercraft."
2
a craft capable of moving over water or land on a cushion of air created by jet engines wordnet

"My hovercraft is full of eels, and there's a bit of chewing gum stuck to my keyboard."

From hover + -craft. Originally a trademark by Saunders-Roe Limited, a British aero- and marine-engineering company.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.