Meanings
plural airlifts
present singular third person airlifts · participle present airlifting · participle past airlifted · past airlifted
- transitiveTo transport (supplies, troops, etc) in an airlift.
The mountaineer who fell down a crevasse had to be airlifted out.
2 more examples
Emergency food and bottled water were airlifted into the earthquake zone.
My Pelicans are going to start airlifting armor and reinforcements into the city.
2004 November 9, Bungie, Halo 2, spoken by Miranda Keyes (Julie Benz), Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox, level/area: Outskirts
Synonyms & antonyms
nountransportation of people or goods by air (especially when other means of access are unavailable)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From air + lift; compare sealift.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 空運 /空运
- 空運 /空运 (kōngyùn)the transportation of troops
Dutch luchtbrug, luchtbrug
- luchtbrugthe transportation of troops
- luchtbruga flight
- per luchtbrug vervoerento transport in an airlift
Finnish ilmasilta, ilmasilta
- ilmasiltathe transportation of troops
- ilmasiltaa flight
French pont aérien, pont aérien
- pont aérienthe transportation of troops
- pont aériena flight
German Luftbrücke, Luftbrücke
- Luftbrückethe transportation of troops
- Luftbrückea flight
- Luftbrückenfluga flight
Japanese 空輸
- 空輸 (kūyu)the transportation of troops
Polish most powietrzny, operacja lotnicza
- most powietrznythe transportation of troops
- operacja lotniczaa flight
- airlifta pipe
- transportować mostem powietrznymto transport in an airlift
- przetransportować mostem powietrznymto transport in an airlift
Russian возду́шный мост, возду́шные перево́зки
- возду́шный мост (vozdúšnyj most)the transportation of troops
- возду́шные перево́зки (vozdúšnyje perevózki)the transportation of troops
- возду́шный мост (vozdúšnyj most)a flight
- эрли́фт (erlíft)a pipe
Spanish puente aéreo
- puente aéreothe transportation of troops
Swedish luftbro, luftbro
- luftbrothe transportation of troops
- luftbroa flight
Cite this entry
airlift. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/airlift
“airlift.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/airlift. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “airlift,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/airlift.
Source: airlift on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.