air base

US/ˈɛɹ beɪs/

noun

A military airport, providing housing and support for aircraft and personnel.

Similar
air station

Meanings

nounair base (plural air bases)

plural air bases · alternative airbase

  1. governmentA military airport, providing housing and support for aircraft and personnel.
    1 more example

    American officers have observed how Chinese troops stationed at American air bases have frequently refused to shoot at Japanese raiding planes. Asked by an American officer for the reason for this behavior, a Chinese officer at Lao-ho-k’ou air base in Hupeh answered (November 1944): “Well you see, if we shot down a Jap plane, the Japs would be angry and would take revenge and return and bomb the city and do a lot of damage.”

    1968, Lyman P. Van Slyke, editor, The Chinese Communist Movement: A Report of the United States War Department, July 1945, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 90

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna base for military aircraft

Similar
air station
Broader
basebase of operations
Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Translations

Arabic قَاعِدَة جَوِّيَّة
  • قَاعِدَة جَوِّيَّة (qāʕida jawwiyya)military airport
Basque aire-basea, hegazkin-base
  • aire-baseamilitary airport
  • hegazkin-basemilitary airport
Bulgarian възду́шна ба́за
  • възду́шна ба́за (văzdúšna báza)military airport
Catalan base aèria
  • base aèriamilitary airport
Chinese Mandarin 軍用機場 /军用机场, 空軍基地 /空军基地
  • 軍用機場 /军用机场 (jūnyòng jīchǎng)military airport
  • 空軍基地 /空军基地 (kōngjūn jīdì)military airport
Czech letecká základna
  • letecká základnamilitary airport
Danish luftbase, flyvestation
  • luftbasemilitary airport
  • flyvestationmilitary airport
  • flyvebasemilitary airport
Dutch vliegbasis, vliegkamp
  • vliegbasismilitary airport
  • vliegkampmilitary airport
Finnish lentotukikohta
  • lentotukikohtamilitary airport
French base aérienne
  • base aériennemilitary airport
German Luftwaffenstützpunkt, Luftstützpunkt
  • Luftwaffenstützpunktmilitary airport
  • Luftstützpunktmilitary airport
  • Fliegerhorstmilitary airport
  • Militärflugplatzmilitary airport
Greek αεροπορική βάση
  • αεροπορική βάση (aeroporikí vási)military airport
Hebrew בְּסִיס טִיסָה, בָּסִיס אֲוִירִי
  • בְּסִיס טִיסָה (b'sís tisá)military airport
  • בָּסִיס אֲוִירִי (b'sís avirí)military airport
Indonesian pangkalan udara
  • pangkalan udaramilitary airport
Irish aerionad
  • aerionadmilitary airport
Italian base aerea
  • base aereamilitary airport
Japanese 空軍基地, 軍用飛行場
  • 空軍基地 (kūgun kichi)military airport
  • 軍用飛行場 (gun'yō hikōjō)military airport
Korean 군용비행장, 공군 기지
  • 군용비행장 (gunyongbihaengjang)military airport
  • 공군 기지 (gonggun giji)military airport
Malay pangkalan udara
  • pangkalan udaramilitary airport
Norwegian Bokmål flystasjon
  • flystasjonmilitary airport
Polish baza lotnicza
  • baza lotniczamilitary airport
Portuguese base aérea
  • base aéreamilitary airport
Romanian bază aeriană
  • bază aerianămilitary airport
Russian авиаба́за, авиацио́нная ба́за
  • авиаба́за (aviabáza)military airport
  • авиацио́нная ба́за (aviaciónnaja báza)military airport
  • АБmilitary airport
Slovak letecká základňa
  • letecká základňamilitary airport
Spanish base aérea
  • base aéreamilitary airport
Swedish flygbas
  • flygbasmilitary airport
Turkish hava üssü
  • hava üssümilitary airport
Ukrainian авіаба́за
  • авіаба́за (aviabáza)military airport
Cite this entry
APA

air base. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/air%20base

MLA

“air base.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/air%20base. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “air base,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/air%20base.

Source: air base on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.