earthship

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noun

A solar-heated house made of natural and recycled materials, such as earth-filled tyres.

RareScrabble 17

Meanings

earthship1

nounearthship (plural earthships)

plural earthships

  1. alternativeAlternative form of Earthship.

Earthship2

nounEarthship (plural Earthships)

plural Earthships · alternative earthship · alternative Earth ship · alternative earth-ship · alternative Earth-ship

  1. architectureA solar-heated house made of natural and recycled materials, such as earth-filled tyres.

    In 1969, Reynolds moved to Taos, New Mexico, where he began building homes out of the junk he could find lying around. He continues to live today in an Earthship community he founded in the outskirts of Taos.

    2011, Eric Corey Freed, Green Building & Remodeling For Dummies, page 191
    1 more example

    If you like the idea of building an Earthship, but can't, perhaps because your neighbors would hang you by your toes from a tree, or if you don't like the appearance of an Earthship but like many of its features, don't despair.

    2000, Daniel D. Chiras, The Natural House, page 118
  2. poeticThe Earth, considered as a spaceship moving through space.
  3. literatureA spaceship originating from or belonging to Earth.

Origin

Compound of Earth + ship. In the architectural sense, coined by American architect Michael E. Reynolds.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

earthship. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/earthship

MLA

“earthship.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/earthship. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “earthship,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/earthship.

Source: earthship on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.