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airlift

American  
[air-lift] / ˈɛərˌlɪft /

noun

  1. a system for transporting persons or cargo by aircraft, especially in an emergency.

  2. the persons or cargo so transported.

  3. the act or process of transporting such a load.

  4. a pump for raising liquids by the pressure of air forced into the pump chamber.

verb (used with object)

  1. to transport (persons or cargo) by airlift.

adjective

  1. of or relating to an airlift or airlifts.

    to increase the army's airlift capacity.
airlift British  
/ ˈɛəˌlɪft /

noun

  1. the transportation by air of passengers, troops, cargo, etc, esp when other routes are blocked

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. (tr) to transport by an airlift

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of airlift

First recorded in 1940–45; air 1 + lift

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

All three were airlifted to a hospital in Guadalajara but perished en route, Trevilla said.

From Barron's

She was airlifted off the piste and diagnosed with a complex tibia fracture in her left leg.

From BBC

They withstood snowstorms in Livigno, cheered the debut of ski mountaineering in Bormio and held their breath while multiple skiers got airlifted off the downhill course in Cortina.

From Los Angeles Times

The following day he was airlifted to Crosshouse, and then discharged that night.

From BBC

She was airlifted by helicopter to a clinic in Cortina, then transferred to a larger hospital in Treviso.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.