Meaning & use
aquaplane
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Meanings
verbintransitiveBritish
Of a vehicle, to slide out of control on a wet road because water lifts the tires off the surface.
Grammar: No object; the vehicle is the subject: the car aquaplaned off the road.
Patterns
- aquaplane on something
- aquaplane off something
The car aquaplaned on the flooded highway and hit the barrier.
If you aquaplane, take your foot off the gas and steer gently.
Heavy rain made the truck aquaplane near the bridge.
verbintransitive
To ride on a board towed behind a fast boat, standing or lying on it.
Grammar: No object; often used with on: aquaplane on the lake.
Patterns
- aquaplane behind something
- aquaplane on something
We spent the afternoon aquaplaning behind his uncle's boat.
She learned to aquaplane on a quiet lake in summer.
nouncountable
A board towed behind a boat that a person stands or lies on to skim over the water.
Grammar: Countable: one aquaplane, two aquaplanes.
Patterns
- ride an aquaplane
- pull an aquaplane
The children took turns on the aquaplane.
He fell off the aquaplane and swallowed a mouthful of water.
Word forms
| third person singular | aquaplanes |
|---|---|
| past tense | aquaplaned |
| past participle | aquaplaned |
| -ing form | aquaplaning |
Common combinations
- aquaplane on a wet road
- Cars can aquaplane on a wet road at high speed.
- aquaplane off the road
- The van aquaplaned off the road in the storm.
- start to aquaplane
- The tires started to aquaplane in the standing water.
- aquaplane behind a boat
- They aquaplaned behind a boat all morning.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hydroplane
- The usual American word for the same sliding on water, and also used in British English for the boat sport.
- skid
- A more general word for sliding sideways; skid does not require water, while aquaplane does.
Word family
- aquaplaning noun
- The act or process of sliding on a wet surface or riding a towed board.
Commonly confused: aquaplane or hydroplane?
aquaplane vs hydroplane
In American English hydroplane means the same as British aquaplane for cars; in both varieties it can also mean a fast boat that lifts out of the water.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'aquaplane' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Aquaplane is intransitive and describes a vehicle sliding on water, so 'The car aquaplaned' fits. The other options wrongly give it an object or an unrelated meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “aquaplane”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.