| 释义 |
airship|ˈɛəʃɪp|
Formerly air-ship.
[f. air- III. + ship n.1; cf. G. luftschiff.]
A dirigible motor-driven balloon, spec. one of an elongated cigar-shaped form having the gas-bags enclosed inside a rigid structure; also, esp. in the U.S., applied generally to other types of aircraft.
1819in J. Milbank First Cent. Flight in Amer. (1943) v. 71 To ascend first in a balloon of the common construction, and afterwards to carry into operation his principles for navigating airships. 1838T. M. Mason Aeronautica 327 Count Lennox's air-ship [sc. a balloon]. 1891O. Chanute Aerial Navig. 7 It was not until 1852 that Henri Giffard..laid down the foundation for eventual success by ascending with a spindle-shaped air ship driven by a steam-engine. 1894― Progr. Flying Machines 66 In 1885 Mr. Foster patented an air ship consisting of two screws. 1900[see Zeppelin]. 1910C. C. Turner in Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts LVIII. 156/1 The common word airship can be applied to all vessels that travel in the air, but it is gradually becoming restricted to the dirigible balloon. 1927― Old Flying Days xxv. 344 To this day the Americans call aeroplanes ‘airships’. 1950Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) i. 46 Airship, a power-driven lighter-than-air aircraft.
b. fig.
1829Carlyle in Foreign Rev. III. 449 Over all which Chamouni-needles and Staubbach-Falls, the great Persifleur skims along in this his little poetical air-ship. 1833― Sart. Res. i. xi. in Fraser's Mag. VIII. 682/1 What vacant, high-sailing air-ships are these, and whither will they sail with us?
Hence † ˈairshipman.
1904Pall Mall Mag. Jan. 12/1 We air-shipmen are steamboat captains and not sailing yachtsmen. |