helicopter
UK/ˈhɛl.iˌkɒp.tə(ɹ)/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/ˈheliːˌkɔptə(ɹ)/
helicopter noun: 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.
Noun
helicopter (plural helicopters)
- 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.
- I’ve flown in flimsy microlights, soaring serenely above rich farmland. I’ve ridden tactical combat helicopters missions, skimming the desert floor and banking hard around sand dunes.2020 December 5, Nic Robertson, “Saudi Arabia has changed beyond recognition. But will tourists want to visit?”, in CNN
- Synonyms:
- chopper, copter, eggbeater, ghetto bird, heli, helo, huey, rotary-wing aircraft, whirlybird
- A powered troweling machine with spinning blades used to spread concrete.
- The winged fruit of certain trees, such as ash, elm, and maple.
- Synonyms:
- samara, whirlybird
- A dragonfly; so named due to its resemblance to a helicopter (sense 1).
- A whirling trick performed with devil sticks.
- Synonyms:
- power trowel, trowel machine
- A breakdance move in which the dancer spins on the floor while extending the legs to resemble the blades of a helicopter.
Verb
helicopter (third-person singular simple present helicopters, present participle helicoptering, simple past and past participle helicoptered)
- To transport by helicopter.
- Car drivers were helicoptered to safety from nearby roads. There were photographs of people canoeing down streets.2023 November 29, Paul Clifton, “West is best in the Highlands”, in RAIL, number 997, page 40
- To travel by helicopter.
- To rotate like a helicopter blade.
- helicoptering his jacket, helicoptering his arms
- To overprotect one's children, as a helicopter parent does.
- Near-synonym: hover
- Synonyms:
- hover
helicopter meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
helicopter in Hindi
- aircraft
- हेलिकॉप्टर helikŏpṭar
helicopter in Tamil
- aircraft
- உலங்கு வானூர்தி ulaṅku vāṉūrti
helicopter in Urdu
- aircraft
- ہیلی کاپْٹَر helī kāpṭar, دوار سطح طیارہ duvvār satah taiyāra, پنکھ دار طیارہ pankh-dār taiyāra
helicopter in Bengali
- aircraft
- হেলিকোপটার helikōpoṭar
More languagesFewer languages
- helicopter in Malayalam
- ഹെലിക്കോപ്റ്റർ, ഒരുതരം വിമാനം
- helicopter in Kannada
- ಸುತ್ತಲಗುಬಾನೋಡ, ತಿರುಗಲುಗುಬಾನೋಡ
- helicopter in Punjabi
- ਹੈਲੀਕਾਪਟਰ hailīkāpṭar
- helicopter in Sanskrit
- उदग्रयानम् udagrayānam
- helicopter in Pashto
- چورلکه čurláka
- helicopter in Tagalog
- helikopter, elikoptero
- helicopter in Arabic
- طَائِرَةٌ مِرْوَحِيَّة ṭāʔiratun mirwaḥiyya, طَائِرَة عَامُودِيَّة ṭāʔira ʕāmūdiyya, هِلِيكُوبْتَر helikobtar, حَوَّامَة ḥawwāma
- helicopter in Malay
- helikopter, kapal baling
- helicopter in Indonesian
- helikopter
- helicopter in Thai
- เฮลิคอปเตอร์ hee-lí-kɔ́p-dtə̂ə
- helicopter in Vietnamese
- máy bay lên thẳng, máy bay trực thăng, trực thăng
- helicopter in Myanmar
- ဟယ်လီကော့ပတာ hailikau.pa.ta, ရဟတ်ယာဉ် ra.hatyany
Examples of helicopter in a sentence
- We'll need to enlarge our budget if we want to include the helicopter ride in our holiday.
- One could scarcely expect the man to know how to fly a helicopter.
- The helicopter despawned shortly after take-off, leaving the player in an unexpected free fall.
Synonyms of helicopter
3 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of helicopter
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | helicopters |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | helicopters |
| present participle | helicoptering |
| past participle | helicoptered |
| past | helicoptered |
Origin of helicopter
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.
Words formed from helicopter
- air ambulance helicopter
- antihelicopter
- Chinese helicopter
- copter
- -copter
- free helicopter ride
- heli
- heli-
- helichopper
- helicopter bucket
- helicopter carrier
- helicopter drop
- helicopter ear
- helicopterful
- helicoptering
- helicopterlike
- helicopter mom
- helicopter money
- helicopter parent
- helicopter parenting
- helicopter seed
- helicopter shot
- helicoptery
- heliport
- helitack
- helo
- jellycopter
- roflcopter
- telecopter
Phrases with helicopter
Questions about helicopter
- What does helicopter mean?
- Helicopter means 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.
- What is helicopter in Hindi?
- Helicopter in Hindi is हेलिकॉप्टर (helikŏpṭar). See Helicopter meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is helicopter?
- Helicopter can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce helicopter?
- Helicopter is pronounced /ˈheliːˌkɔptə(ɹ)/ (Australia).
- What is the plural of helicopter?
- The plural of helicopter is helicopters.
Words near helicopter in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: helicopter (page history and authors); helicopter (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); helicopter (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-helicopter.ogg.
Cite this entry: “helicopter.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/helicopter. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.