Meaning & use
helicopter
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
an aircraft with large horizontal blades on top that spin to lift it straight up and let it hover
Grammar: Countable: a helicopter, two helicopters.
Patterns
- by helicopter
- a helicopter pilot
- a helicopter flies/hovers
The rescue team arrived by helicopter.
A helicopter hovered above the crowd.
She trained to become a helicopter pilot.
verbtransitive or intransitiveinformal
to travel by helicopter, or to transport someone or something by helicopter
Grammar: Can be used without an object (We helicoptered to the island) or with one (They helicoptered supplies to the camp).
Patterns
- helicopter somewhere
- helicopter someone/something somewhere
The crew helicoptered to the remote site.
They helicoptered the injured climber to safety.
verbintransitiveinformaldisapproving
to be closely involved in every part of someone's life, especially a child's, in an overprotective way
Grammar: Often used in the phrase 'helicopter parent' or 'helicopter parenting'.
Patterns
- helicopter over someone
- helicopter parent
Some parents helicopter over their children even at university.
Helicopter parenting can make it hard for kids to become independent.
Word forms
| plural | helicopters |
|---|---|
| third person singular | helicopters |
| past tense | helicoptered |
| past participle | helicoptered |
| -ing form | helicoptering |
Common combinations
- helicopter pilot
- The helicopter pilot landed on the roof.
- helicopter ride
- We took a helicopter ride over the canyon.
- helicopter parent
- A helicopter parent may call the school every day.
- by helicopter
- The supplies were delivered by helicopter.
- helicopter crash
- The helicopter crash was caused by bad weather.
Synonyms and how they differ
- chopper
- Chopper is an informal word for a helicopter, common in news and military contexts.
- rotorcraft
- Rotorcraft is a technical term for any aircraft that uses rotors, including helicopters.
Word family
- helicopter verb
- To travel by helicopter or to be overprotective as a parent.
Commonly confused: helicopter or helipad?
helicopter vs helipad
A helipad is the landing area for a helicopter, not the aircraft itself.
Practice
The injured hiker was _____ to the hospital by a rescue team.
Choose one answer.
The past tense 'helicoptered' is needed because the action happened in the past and is passive ('was helicoptered'). 'Helicopter' is the base form, 'helicoptering' is the -ing form, and 'helicopters' is the plural or third-person singular, none of which fit after 'was'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “helicopter”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.