What does "plane" mean?
A level or flat surface.
Plane
/pleɪn/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A level or flat surface.
- Grammar: plane is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: aeroplane, airplane, aeroplane, aircraft.
- Useful contrasts: domed, three dimensional shape, adz.
- Usage evidence: As the plane was approaching turbulence, the pilot asked the passengers aboard the plane to fasten their seat belts.
How to use "plane"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "plane" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "plane" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "plane" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "plane" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "plane" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "aeroplane" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "plane", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A level or flat surface.
- 2 A tool for smoothing wood by removing thin layers from the surface. countable
- 3 An airplane; an aeroplane.
"The plane is travelling impossibly slowly – 30km an hour – when it gently noses up and leaves the ground. With air beneath them, the rangy wings seem to gain strength; the fuselage that on the ground seemed flimsy becomes elegant, like a crane vaunting in flight. It seems not to fly, though, so much as float."
- 4 A deciduous tree of the genus Platanus. countable
- 5 an aircraft that has a fixed wing and is powered by propellers or jets wordnet
Show 12 more definitions
- 6 A flat surface extending infinitely in all directions (e.g. horizontal or vertical plane); a bounded portion thereof.
"Mirrors in the compartments have been canted out of the vertical plane to reduce reflections to the passengers when seated."
- 7 Any of various nymphalid butterflies, of various genera, having a slow gliding flight.
- 8 A sycamore. Northern-UK
- 9 a carpenter's hand tool with an adjustable blade for smoothing or shaping wood wordnet
- 10 A flat surface extending infinitely in all directions (e.g. horizontal or vertical plane); a bounded portion thereof.; An imaginary plane which divides the body into two portions.
- 11 The butterfly Bindahara phocides, family Lycaenidae, of Asia and Australasia.
- 12 a power tool for smoothing or shaping wood wordnet
- 13 A level of existence or development.
"astral plane"
- 14 (mathematics) an unbounded two-dimensional shape wordnet
- 15 A roughly flat, thin, often moveable structure used to create lateral force by the flow of air or water over its surface, found on aircraft, submarines, etc.
- 16 a level of existence or development wordnet
- 17 Any of 17 designated ranges of 2¹⁶ (65,536) sequential code points each.
Verb
- 1 To smooth (wood) with a plane. transitive
- 2 To move in a way that lifts the bow out of the water.
- 3 cut or remove with or as if with a plane wordnet
- 4 To glide or soar.
- 5 make even or smooth, with or as with a carpenter's plane wordnet
Show 1 more definition
- 6 travel on the surface of water wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Of a surface: flat or level.
Adjective
- 1 having a surface without slope, tilt in which no part is higher or lower than another wordnet
Example
"As the plane was approaching turbulence, the pilot asked the passengers aboard the plane to fasten their seat belts."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "plane"?
Common synonyms include: aeroplane, airplane, aeroplane, aircraft, aircraft, airliner.
How do you use "plane" in a sentence?
As the plane was approaching turbulence, the pilot asked the passengers aboard the plane to fasten their seat belts.
How do you pronounce "plane"?
Pronounced /pleɪn/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Latin plānum (“flat surface”), a noun use of the neuter of plānus (“plain”). The word was introduced in the 17th century to distinguish the geometrical senses from the other senses of plain. Doublet of llano, piano, and plain.
Etymology 2
From Middle English plane, plaine, from Anglo-Norman plaine, from Late Latin plāna (“planing tool”).
Etymology 3
Clipping of aeroplane.
Etymology 4
From Middle English plane, borrowed from Old French plane, from Latin platanus, from Ancient Greek πλάτανος (plátanos), from πλατύς (platús, “wide, broad”).