Meaning & use
airlifting
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“airlifting” is a form of “airlift”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive
The -ing form of airlift: carrying people or supplies to or from a place by aircraft, especially in an emergency.
Grammar: Takes an object: airlifting the injured. Often followed by to or out of.
Patterns
- airlift someone to something
- airlift something out of somewhere
Helicopters are airlifting the injured climbers to hospital.
The army is airlifting food to the flooded villages.
Rescuers spent the night airlifting residents out of the valley.
noununcountable
The act of transporting people or goods by aircraft when other routes are blocked or unsafe.
Grammar: Often used as a gerund noun: airlifting is expensive.
Airlifting is the only way to reach the stranded hikers.
The cost of airlifting heavy equipment was huge.
Word forms
| base form | airlift |
|---|---|
| third person singular | airlifts |
| past tense | airlifted |
Common combinations
- airlifting supplies
- Planes are airlifting supplies to the isolated town.
- airlifting survivors
- The crew spent hours airlifting survivors.
- airlifting patients
- Airlifting patients saved several lives.
- emergency airlifting
- Emergency airlifting began at dawn.
Synonyms and how they differ
- evacuating
- Evacuating means moving people out of danger by any means, whereas airlifting specifies aircraft.
- flying out
- Flying out is informal and can describe ordinary travel, while airlifting suggests a rescue or special operation.
- transporting
- Transporting is general, and does not say how or why something is moved.
Word family
Commonly confused: airlifting or airdropping?
airlifting vs airdropping
Airdropping means dropping supplies from an aircraft without landing, whereas airlifting means carrying them from one place to another.
Practice
With the road washed away, helicopters began ______ the injured to the city hospital.
Choose one answer.
Airlifting means carrying people by aircraft. Airdropping releases goods from the air, and airbrushing and airing have unrelated meanings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “airlifting”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.