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
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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 .
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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