helicopter

noun

(aircraft) 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.

A powered troweling machine with spinning blades used to spread concrete.

(botany) The winged fruit of certain trees, such as ash, elm, and maple.

(zoology, slang) A dragonfly; so named due to its resemblance to a helicopter (sense 1).

(dance) A breakdance move in which the dancer spins on the floor while extending the legs to resemble the blades of a helicopter.

A whirling trick performed with devil sticks.

verb

(transitive) To transport by helicopter.

(intransitive) To travel by helicopter.

To overprotect one's children, as a helicopter parent does.

To rotate like a helicopter blade.

Roots

helisseinhelic- · Greek · to turn round, roll, wind pteron-pter · Greek · wing

Synonyms & related words for helicopter

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of helicopter. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to helicopter

Explore words related to helicopter — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include whirlybird, chopper, copter, helipad, gyroplane, aircraft, medevac, aerodonetics. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Where does helicopter come from?

The word helicopter breaks down into 2 roots of Greek origin: helic-, from Greek helissein (“to turn round, roll, wind”); and -pter, from Greek pteron (“wing”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.