Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To glide toward the earth in an airplane with the engine cut off.
- v. To glide toward the earth with the engine cut off. Used of an airplane.
- v. To make one's way or go by gliding.
- n. The act or an instance of volplaning.
Wiktionary
- n. a steep, controlled dive, especially by an aircraft with the engine off
- v. to make a volplane
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. (Aëronautics) To glide in a flying machine.
Etymologies
- French vol plané ‘gliding flight’. (Wiktionary)
- From French vol plané, gliding flight : vol, flight (from Old French, from voler, to fly; see volley) + plané, gliding, past participle of planer, to glide; see plane3. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“They were to glide, or as it is called "volplane" (pronounced vol-pla-nay, with the accent on the last syllable) to the ground.”
Dick Hamilton's Airship, or, a Young Millionaire in the Clouds
“He found he could volplane it without engine by reaching in to grab the stick among the flames although his hand got burnt.”
“There was the aerodrome, turn off the cock and put her into a volplane.”
“He passed over high buildings, skirted what seemed like a factory district, and began to volplane.”
“Then, timing and calculating a volplane glide, he let the machine down easily to the ground.”
“Dave turned the head of the machine on a volplane sweep, and the searchlight operator could not locate it again.”
“John shut off both engines, and they began to volplane down in a great stillness, sailing like an immense hawk.”
“We could not continue, any more than the other fellow, and would have to volplane to the ground.”
“Turning again, he concluded to pass between two of the pinnacles, and immediately volplane down on the other side.”
“For as Tom shut off his motor, to volplane down, thus reducing all noise on his craft, they could dimly hear the shouts and calls for help, coming from the water craft below them.”
Tom Swift Among the Fire Fighters, or, Battling with Flames from the Air
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘volplane’.
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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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Another 250 Spelling Words
Another range of words from the intermediate to the advanced speller's level.
cherimoya, parthenogenesis, sommelier, bupkis, kichel, voulge, indivisibility, retiarius, sewellel, vihuela, ossature, jalfrezi and 238 more...
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phrontistery-v
from phrontistery.info
vulviform, vulvar, vulturine, vulpine, vulpicide, vulpecular, vulnerose, vulsella, vulnerary, vulnerate, vulgus, vulgo and 396 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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Move it!
Awesome actions or motions.
celerity, peremptory, volplane, founder, whirl, gallopade, rathe, jounce, jive, jink, jibe, jectigation and 17 more...
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Logodaedalus' Lexical Locutionary
Discombobulating the illiterate since the middle of the last century.
adiaphora, agitprop, alliteration, apophthegm, autarky, bête noire, bezoar, biorhythm, braggadocio, canaille, confabulate, confrère and 332 more...
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Wordie/Wordnik Curio Cabinet
Oddments culled from my "main" lists that belong in a display cabinet of their own, plus sundry other curiosities. :-)
zeugma, ziggurat, xiphoid, xeric, whizgigging, whangdoodle, viviparous, vivific, vinolent, verjuice, vellicate, velleity and 1193 more...
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2007bee-r03
antioxidant, rambla, trafficking, volplane, sluice, jettison, insomnolence, egyptiac, claque, provincial, satisfice, trumpery and 95 more...
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Words 1-3-11
peag, ameliorate, vex, tawdry, sumptuary, padrao, referendum, gulpin, corbana, actuated, landern, grotesquerie and 17 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for volplane.
reesetee 1) To glide toward the earth in an airplane with the engine cut off. 2) To make one's way or go by gliding. Apr 2, 2008