Noun

Singular helicopter

Plural helicopters

helicopter (plural helicopters)

1. An aircraft that is borne along by one or more sets of long rotating blades which allow it to hover, move in any direction including reverse, or land; and having a smaller set of blades on its tail that stabilize the aircraft.

   We flew over the city in a helicopter.

2. a powered troweling machine with spinning blades used to spread concrete.

Synonyms

• (aircraft): chopper (informal), copter (informal), eggbeater (slang), rotary-wing aircraft (technical), whirlybird (slang)

Verb

Infinitive to helicopter

Third person singular helicopters

Simple past helicoptered

Past participle helicoptered

Present participle helicoptering

to helicopter (third-person singular simple present helicopters, present participle helicoptering, simple past and past participle helicoptered)

1. (transitive) To transport by helicopter.
2. (intransitive) To travel by helicopter.

Derived terms

• helicopter parent

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine driven rotors. In contrast with fixed-wing aircraft, this allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards and laterally. These attributes allow helicopters to be used in congested or isolated areas where fixed-wing aircraft would not be able to take off or land. The capability to efficiently hover for extended periods of time allows a helicopter to accomplish tasks that fixed-wing aircraft and other forms of vertical takeoff and landing aircraft cannot perform.

The word 'helicopter' is adapted from the French hélicoptère, coined by Gustave de Ponton d'Amecourt in 1861, which originates from the Greek helix/helik- (ἕλικ-) = 'spiral' or 'turning' and pteron (πτερόν) = 'wing'.

Helicopters were developed and built during the first half-century of flight, with some reaching limited production, but it was not until 1942 that a helicopter designed by Igor Sikorsky reached full-scale production, with 131 aircraft built. Though most earlier designs used more than one main rotor, it was the single main rotor with antitorque tail rotor configuration of this design that would come to be recognized worldwide as the helicopter.