| 释义 |
ˌlighter-than-ˈair, attrib. phr. Aeronaut.
Designating a flying machine whose weight is less than the weight of the air which it displaces and which rises as a result of its own buoyancy; also applied to the use of such a machine or machines in flight.
[1869J. B. Pettigrew in Notices Proc. R. Inst. Gt. Brit. V. 103 A machine lighter than the air must necessarily rise through it. 1887tr. J. Verne's Clipper of Clouds vii. 60 The first inventors did not think of apparatus lighter than air. Ibid. viii. 78, I solved the problem of aviation. That is what a balloon will never do, nor will any machine that is lighter than air.] 1903Work 11 Apr. 155/1 The Barton Air Ship..is a combination of the ‘lighter than air’ and ‘heavier than air’ system—that is to say, it is a machine in which a system of movable aero⁓planes is interposed between the car and the balloon. 1907Daily Mail 19 Mar. 5/6 The Berlin ‘Zentralblatt für Bauverwaltung’..protests against the subsidising with State funds of airships, dirigible balloons, and other ‘lighter-than-air’ vehicles. 1912S. F. Walker Aviation i. 7 ‘Lighter than Air’ apparatus which we call balloons. 1923Hart & Laidler Elem. Aeronaut. Sci. i. 8 The problem of ‘lighter-than-air’ flight. 1953S. Spender Creative Element i. 28 Tennyson was thinking of a battle of lighter-than-air dirigibles. 1963Ann. Reg. 1962 539 [Auguste Piccard.] He and his twin, Jean Félix, were intensely interested in lighter-than-air flight. 1974Times 13 Feb. 14/3 The role of lighter-than-air craft as cargo carriers.
ellipt.1887tr. J. Verne's Clipper of Clouds v. 39 To these enthusiasts for ‘lighter than air’ a no less enthusiast for ‘heavier than air’ had said things absolutely abhorrent. Ibid. x. 94 In spite of all the jealousy of the two enemies of ‘lighter than air’, they could not help being surprised at the perfection of this engine of aerial locomotion. 1910Blackw. Mag. Feb. 206/1 Neglecting the lighter than air as a military auxiliary. |