airship
(ˈɛəʃɪp)
Formerly air-ship.
[f. air- III. + ship n.1; cf. G. luftschiff.]
A dirigible motor-driven balloon, spec. one of an elongated cigar-shaped form having the gas-bags enclosed inside a rigid structure; also, esp. in the U.S., applied generally to other types of aircraft.
| 1819 in J. Milbank First Cent. Flight in Amer. (1943) v. 71 To ascend first in a balloon of the common construction, and afterwards to carry into operation his principles for navigating airships. 1838 T. M. Mason Aeronautica 327 Count Lennox's air-ship [sc. a balloon]. 1891 O. Chanute Aerial Navig. 7 It was not until 1852 that Henri Giffard..laid down the foundation for eventual success by ascending with a spindle-shaped air ship driven by a steam-engine. 1894 ― Progr. Flying Machines 66 In 1885 Mr. Foster patented an air ship consisting of two screws. 1900 [see Zeppelin]. 1910 C. C. Turner in Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts LVIII. 156/1 The common word airship can be applied to all vessels that travel in the air, but it is gradually becoming restricted to the dirigible balloon. 1927 ― Old Flying Days xxv. 344 To this day the Americans call aeroplanes ‘airships’. 1950 Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) i. 46 Airship, a power-driven lighter-than-air aircraft. |
b. fig.
| 1829 Carlyle in Foreign Rev. III. 449 Over all which Chamouni-needles and Staubbach-Falls, the great Persifleur skims along in this his little poetical air-ship. 1833 ― Sart. Res. i. xi. in Fraser's Mag. VIII. 682/1 What vacant, high-sailing air-ships are these, and whither will they sail with us? |
Hence † ˈairshipman.
| 1904 Pall Mall Mag. Jan. 12/1 We air-shipmen are steamboat captains and not sailing yachtsmen. |