airship

1. (aviation) A lighter-than-air aircraft that can be propelled forward through the air as well as steered.Examples: "Airships are posited to be cheaper to operate over time than fixed-wing aircraft, but as there are no large fleets, this is hard to prove in practice."

2. (US, law enforcement, aviation) A police air unit, a police helicopter.US

3. (aviation, informal) Any aircraft.Examples: "On weekends, I liked to spend my time at the airport watching the various airships take off and land."informal

4. (British, derogatory, chiefly in the plural) A high ranking official of the RAF, viewed as arrogant and distant.Examples: "I only make them to add perhaps a little weight to my view that, whether one thinks of Their Lordships of the Admiralty, or of Their Airships of the Air Ministry, or of Their Coalships of Lansdowne House, or of any other governing body, what is vastly more important than the precise theoretical form of the superstructure is the will—and the capacity—throughout the organisation to make the organisation work."; "Then where does the Navy come in, since it is generally agreed that the primary role of the Navy is the protection of our merchant ships? It is obvious that neither their Lordships of the Admiralty nor their Airships of the Air Ministry will relinquish their power without a struggle."; "And all the time, ever present but out of sight, "their Airships,” as they called the RAF top brass, were also watching, praying."Britishderogatoryin-plural