volplane

V4O1L1P3L1A1N1E1
/ˈvɒlpleɪn/

noun

A steep, controlled dive, especially by an aircraft with the engine off.

OriginFrench vol plané →
Scrabble 13
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Meanings

nounvolplane (plural volplanes)

plural volplanes

  1. A steep, controlled dive, especially by an aircraft with the engine off.
verbvolplane (third-person singular simple present volplanes, present participle volplaning, simple past and past participle volplaned)

present singular third person volplanes · participle present volplaning · participle past volplaned · past volplaned

  1. To perform a volplane.

    Curtains of vapor drift back to reveal the Americans, volplaning along well inside ten meters and only a little faster than the balloon.

    1973, Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow
    1 more example

    1916, Wilfred Percy ("Billie") Nevill, letter, in 1991, Ruth Elwin Harris (editor), Billie: The Nevill Letters, 1914-1916, Julia Macrae, page 143, […] when well over the bosche lines & he volplaned home, just skimmed over our & the Bosche trenches, they all fired at him like sin, of course, and landed about 1000 yards back on a hill.

  2. To glide.

Origin

  1. Frenchvol plané“gliding flight”
  2. Englishvolplane

From French vol plané (“gliding flight”).

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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