airliftn.
/ˈɛːlɪft/, U.S. /ˈɛrˌlɪft/ 1. † a. Apparently: a lift (lift n.2 10a) powered by or operating in the air. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > other means of conveyance > [noun] > lift or hoist > types of
Jacob's ladder1845
airlift1881
paternoster1912
1881 W. D. Hay 300 Years Hence xi. 305 Descending to a lower storey on the self-acting air-lift.
b. Engineering. Usually in form air-lift. A pumping device operated by compressed air. Frequently attributive, esp. in air-lift pump.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > pump > [noun] > operated by compressed air
airlift1893
1893 J. G. Pohle Brit. Patent 22,372/1892 1 My process..I term the ‘air lift process’.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 776/1 The object attained by the air-lift is precisely the same as that attained by putting a pump some distance down a bore-hole.
1917 Inst. Mech. Engineers: Proc. 628 In an air-lift pump in operation the air-bubbles are rising through a mixture of variable density.
1961 Fowler's Mech. Engineer's Pocket Bk. (ed. 63) 391 Air-lift pumps are frequently put down to test new wells, and are particularly useful for raising oil from depths..wherewith plunger pumps would be impracticable.
2000 Limnol. & Oceanogr. 45 149/2 The pulsed jet flow was produced by an air-lift pump forcing 4.3 to 5.6 pulses per minute of 2.6-liter [of] water per pulse into the tank.
2. An act of transporting a person or thing by air, spec. a movement of troops, equipment, or supplies using aircraft, typically during a military blockade or other emergency; a rescue carried out by air.
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society > armed hostility > military organization > logistics > [noun] > transporting
trooping1809
M.T.C.1942
airdrop1943
airlift1943
fly-in1943
airlifting1949
society > travel > air or space travel > transport by air > [noun] > in emergency
airlift1943
airlifting1949
1943 Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, Texas) 19 Nov. 10/7 Meanwhile, Gohitro et al are assembling the airlift to make their getaway.
1948 News Chron. 20 Sept. 1/1 This is the first British plane to crash on the air lift, which began in June.
1958 Oxf. Mail 19 July 1/2 The United States today began a massive oil airlift to save Jordan from oil starvation.
1972 Guardian 11 Aug. 1/1 The airlift by small, island-hopping aircraft.
2007 News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Indiana) (Nexis) 13 June n4 Lutheran Air helicopter medical transport service recently carried its 1,000th patient. That airlift took place April 3.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
airliftv.
/ˈɛːlɪft/, U.S. /ˈɛrˌlɪft/ transitive. To move by air, spec. to transport (troops, supplies, or equipment) using aircraft, typically during a military blockade or other emergency; to rescue (a person) by air.
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society > armed hostility > military organization > logistics > practise logistics [verb (transitive)] > transport
shapec1330
entrain1878
airlift1948
society > travel > air or space travel > transport by air > transport through the air [verb (transitive)] > by powered aircraft > in emergency
airlift1948
heli-lift1966
medevac1969
1948 News (Frederick, Maryland) 9 Oct. 1/2 He predicted the isolated capital would fall soon unless strong reinforcements were airlifted to Taiyuan.
1960 Times 21 Mar. 12/4 Every drop of water for the troops is airlifted from El Adem in jerricans.
1977 R.A.F. News 27 Apr.–10 May 1/4 He airlifted a two-ton cabin into the garden of a Durham man so that a kidney machine could be installed.
1988 J. Cartwright Interior viii. 93 He pretended to know how the Israelis had airlifted the survivors.
2007 Australian (Nexis) 27 June 8 Two Sea King helicopters were airlifting people to Sheffield airport.
Derivatives
ˈairlifted adj.
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1949 Sun (Baltimore) 5 Jan. 7/1 The Soviet-licensed newspaper National Zeitung today accused British and American officers of shunting more than 8,000 tons of airlifted coal into the black market of fuel-short Berlin.
2004 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch (Nexis) 5 Nov. e3 The opening scene, of an airlifted Jesus statue hovering over a rooftop of sunbathers, is one of the most memorably satirical images in film history.
ˈairlifting n.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military organization > logistics > [noun] > transporting
trooping1809
M.T.C.1942
airdrop1943
airlift1943
fly-in1943
airlifting1949
society > travel > air or space travel > transport by air > [noun] > in emergency
airlift1943
airlifting1949
1949 Sun (Baltimore) 2 July 1/1 It may lead to the airlifting of other highly perishable fruits and vegetables.
1960 Guardian 20 July 1/4 The United States had sent support in the airlifting of United Nations troops.
1977 R. J. Simon & H. Altstein Transracial Adoption iii. 64 In lieu of the massive airlifting of Vietnamese children to this country, the American government would be wiser to establish foster care programs in Vietnam.
2007 Pretoria News (Nexis) 16 Apr. 18 ‘These bases,’ he said, ‘would be used as staging points for the airlifting of food and other logistical supplies such as tents and medicines.’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1881v.1948