PLANE


Meaning of PLANE in English

I. plane 1 S2 W2 /pleɪn/ BrE AmE noun [countable]

[ Sense 1: Date: 1900-2000 ; Origin: aeroplane ]

[ Sense 2,5: Date: 1600-1700 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: planum , from planus ; ⇨ ↑ plain 1 ]

[ Sense 3: Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: Late Latin plana , from planare ; ⇨ ↑ plane 2 ]

[ Sense 4: Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: French ; Origin: Latin platanus ]

1 . AIRCRAFT a vehicle that flies in the air and has wings and at least one engine:

It is a big airline with a large fleet of planes.

It’s much quicker to go by plane.

She slept on the plane.

2 . LEVEL a level or standard of thought, conversation etc:

The two newspapers are on completely different intellectual planes.

3 .

TOOL a tool that has a flat bottom with a sharp blade in it, used for making wooden surfaces smooth

4 . TREE a ↑ plane tree

5 . SURFACE technical a completely flat surface in ↑ geometry

• • •

COLLOCATIONS

■ verbs

▪ catch/take a plane

She caught the first plane back to New York.

▪ get on a plane ( also board a plane )

We got on the plane and found our seats.

▪ a plane takes off (=goes into the air)

The flight attendants served drinks shortly after the plane took off.

▪ a plane lands (=moves safely down onto the ground)

Because of the fog, our plane had to land at Luton.

▪ a plane touches down (=lands safely on the ground)

As soon as the plane touched down on the runway, I felt better.

▪ a plane flies

Several planes flew overhead.

▪ a plane taxies (=moves slowly along on the ground)

The plane taxied to a halt.

▪ a plane crashes

Their plane crashed shortly after take-off.

▪ a plane crash-lands (=lands in a sudden and dangerous way because of a problem)

Their small plane crash-landed on a busy motorway yesterday.

▪ a plane carries passengers

A plane carrying 10 civilians was shot down.

▪ fly/pilot a plane

I admire the guys who flew those planes.

▪ land a plane (=bring it safely down onto the ground)

The pilot managed to land the plane safely on the beach.

▪ bring a plane down (=land it)

He ran out of fuel and had to bring the plane down on a road leading to the village.

▪ get off a plane

Would he ever see her again after they got off the plane?

▪ shoot down a plane

The guerrillas shot down an Israeli fighter plane.

■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + plane

▪ a private plane

He flew to Vegas in his private plane.

▪ a cargo plane (=for carrying goods)

cargo planes carrying emergency supplies for victims of the earthquake

▪ a transport plane (=for carrying military equipment and soldiers)

Heavily-laden transport planes can only land if there is a long runway.

▪ a military plane

Air Force jets intercepted two military planes that had entered the no-fly zone.

▪ a fighter plane (=a small fast military plane)

fighter planes from the Second World War

▪ a spy plane

An unmanned US spy plane had been shot down.

■ plane + NOUN

▪ a plane crash

Over 200 people died in the plane crash.

■ COMMON ERRORS

► Do not say ' fly by plane '. Say go by plane or just fly .

• • •

THESAURUS

▪ plane ( also aeroplane British English ), airplane American English a vehicle that flies in the air and has wings and at least one engine:

The plane took off from John F Kennedy airport.

|

a passenger plane carrying over 300 people

▪ aircraft a plane or other vehicle that can fly. Aircraft sounds more formal than plane :

Smoking is not allowed on board the aircraft.

|

He was trained to fly military aircraft.

▪ jet a fast plane with a jet engine:

She owns a private jet.

▪ airliner a large plane that carries people:

a commercial airliner

■ military planes

▪ bomber a plane that carries and drops bombs:

The town was attacked by US and British bombers.

▪ fighter (plane) a small fast military plane that can destroy other planes:

The plane was shot down by enemy fighters.

|

He was a fighter pilot during the war.

▪ warplane a military plane that is used for fighting in the air or for dropping bombs:

The area had been bombed by US warplanes.

■ people on a plane

▪ pilot someone who operates the controls of a plane:

an airline pilot

|

He has a pilot’s licence.

▪ co-pilot a pilot who shares the control of a plane with the main pilot:

The pilot became ill, and the co-pilot had to land the plane.

▪ captain the pilot who is in charge of an aircraft:

This is your captain speaking. We will be arriving at Gatwick Airport in approximately 10 minutes.

▪ the flight crew all the people who work on a plane during a flight:

The flight crew asked for permission to land at Chicago’s O'Hare International Airport.

▪ the cabin crew the people whose job is to serve food and drinks to passengers on a plane:

The cabin crew will be serving drinks shortly.

▪ flight attendant someone whose job is to serve food and drink to passengers on a plane:

The flight attendant told him to go back to his seat.

▪ steward/stewardess a man/woman whose job is to serve food and drinks to passengers on a plane:

I asked the stewardess if I could have a blanket.

II. plane 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]

[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: French ; Origin: planer , from Late Latin planare , from Latin planus ; ⇨ ↑ plain 1 ]

if you plane a piece of wood, you make it smoother or smaller, using a plane:

He planed the edge of the door.

III. plane 3 BrE AmE adjective [only before noun]

[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: planus ; ⇨ ↑ plain 1 ]

technical completely flat and smooth:

a plane surface

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.