Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. See airship.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- That may be directed, controlled, or steered.
Wiktionary
- n. A self-propelled airship that can be steered
- adj. steerable
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Capable of being directed; steerable.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. capable of being steered or directed
- n. a steerable self-propelled aircraft
Etymologies
- Latin dīrigere, to direct; see direct + -ible. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“And the style of the dirigible is only limited to the imagination!”
TeeMorris.com » Blog Archive » GUEST BLOGPOST: Wherein the Tinker’s Art Is Discussed
“A dirigible is something magical," said Jérôme Giacomoni, who was 25 when he founded Aerophile with a friend.”
“The Latin dirigere means “to direct,” and a balloon capable of being directed by a pilot was dubbed a dirigible in 1885.”
Simon & Schuster: The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time
“PS Due to that flash animation we saw back in college, every time I hear the word dirigible, I hear the words, That’s lovely Mark.”
“I have to admit a secret love for the word dirigible here, too, which Buckell uses almost immediately in the story.”
“That is NOT a dirigible, that is a balloon - dirigibles are ridged, like zeppelins.”
“Sept. 24, 1852: A new invention called a dirigible creeps through the air from Paris to Trappe, France, taking three hours to travel 17 miles.”
“I don't have the issue on hand, but I suspect the dirigible is a reference to an early Batman called "The Batman Wars Against the Dirigible of Doom" in Detective Comics 33.”
“Butch shoots the snake, and tries desperately to regain control of the dirigible, which is plummeting earthwards at its top speed of 25 mph.”
“So far the stern test of war as applied to the science of aeronautics has emphasised the fact that as a naval unit the dirigible is a complete failure.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘dirigible’.
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Up In The Air @ Wordnik
List of words, terms, and phrases pertaining to or referencing anything that lives, traverses, moves in, uses, or otherwise occupies the space above the ground we walk on. Words and phrases contain...
aeroallergen, aerial, aerial mapping, aerial root, aerobe, aerobiology, aerobioscope, aelophilous, anemotropism, anemoclastic, anafront, antitrades and 273 more...
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250 Cherry-Picked Words
Juicy words for the intermediate and advanced speller
consomme, miniaceous, nankeen, smaragdine, stramineous, vitellary, allemande, beguine, bransle, charabanc, margaritaceous, chaconne and 238 more...
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IMCO - EU nomenclature
includes words of the "Prodcom list"
abaca, abdominal, abrasive, absorbent, absorber, accelerator, accessory, account book, accumulator, acebutolol, acetaldehyde, acetamide and 4515 more...
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good to know
sardonic, concordance, acerbic, onerous, saccharine, muliebrity, fugacious, evanescent, gambit, capricious, liaison, fallacious and 18 more...
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phrontistery - d
from phrontistery.info
dacnomania, dacoitage, dacryops, dactylioglyph, dactyliology, dactyliomancy, dactylogram, dactylography, dactyloid, dactylology, dactylomancy, dactylomegaly and 624 more...
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wallace
Remington, Windsor, prorector, wen, aver, mottle, seltzer, tepee, lapidary, effete, sotto, presbyopia and 355 more...
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#faveword
Words chosen as favorites for the Twitter hashtag #faveword.
autumnal, grotto, chiaroscuro, sfumato, homunculus, zing, zest, effervescent, bewitch, avuncular, susurrus, Styrofoam and 205 more...
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Steampunk
Words used quite often in steampunk
ansible, airship, chymical, valve, clockwork, dirigible, thaumaturgy, copper, bronze, difference engine, gear, rivets and 516 more...
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SeanCroft's list
oleaginous, antelucan, anemones, duennes, pluterperfect, peritoneal, peritoneum, abattoir, accouchement, morganatic, teratalogy, dysmorphology and 21 more...
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Words For Novel (Part 3)
fibers, gypsy, polymer, schism, syphilitic garden..., holocaust, scrutinant, contemplate, aftermath, consequence, deadlock, impasse and 151 more...
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Fun to Say
Oh-so-pronounceable words.
schwa, sprack, rubbly, swashbuckler, hecka, tartine, ambiguous, ghee, trapped in, abecedarius, highfalutin, dirigible and 24 more...
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Party
What do you consider fun?
Fun, natural fun!rollicking, cheese, jaunt, zipperump-a-zoo, sriracha, daydream, sprack, swashbuckler, hecka, spread, camaraderie, caprae and 11 more...
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Wicked Cool Words
These words have been posted on my vocabulary tumblr, wickedcoolwords.tumblr.com!
miasma, libation, laconic, denigrating, deontic, accinge, liquescent, quagmire, exiguous, dirigible, lambasted, lambaste and 89 more...
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Favorite Words
pablum, maundy, histrionic, adamant, ascribe, verbiage, insouciant, erudite, gregarious, superfluous, banal, obdurate and 280 more...
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favored
visceral, twinkle, whalebone, incandescent, carousel, entangle, brevity, desolate, twirl, deltoid, graceless, tryst and 94 more...
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Quaintnesses
For those who wish no words were ever forgotten
opprobrium, tedium, encomium, odium, ire, enmity, beguile, wile, brazen, popinjay, squit, hoity-toity and 1161 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for dirigible.
Casey "She stood with her back to him, nude at the stove, dancing back as hot drops of oil leapt from the pan. The covers slipped from the slope of Isaac's belly. He was a dirigible, huge and taut and strong. Grey hair burst from him abundently." From Perdido Street Station by China Meiville. Sep 18, 2011
sockfullofpennies The adjective: capable of being steered.
Hence a zeppelin or airship was in fact a "dirigible balloon"; or a balloon that could be steered. Jan 29, 2007