Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

air|show /eə ^r ʃoʊ/ (airshows ) also air show N‑COUNT An airshow is an event at which aeroplane pilots entertain the public by performing very skilful and complicated movements with the aircraft in the sky.

air|space /eə ^r spe I s/ also air space N‑UNCOUNT A country's airspace is the part of the sky that is over that country and is considered to belong to it. □  The plane left British airspace.

air|speed /eə ^r spiːd/ (airspeeds ) also air speed N‑COUNT An aircraft's airspeed is the speed at which it travels through the air.

ai r strike (air strikes ) also airstrike N‑COUNT An air strike is an attack by military aircraft in which bombs are dropped. This expression is usually used by the country or group that is carrying out the attack. □  A senior defence official said last night that they would continue the air strikes.

air|strip /eə ^r str I p/ (airstrips ) N‑COUNT An airstrip is a stretch of land which has been cleared so that aircraft can take off and land. □  We landed on a grass airstrip, fifteen minutes after leaving Mahe.

ai r ter|mi|nal (air terminals ) N‑COUNT An air terminal is a building in which passengers wait before they get on to an aeroplane. [mainly BRIT ]

air|tight /eə ^r ta I t/ also air-tight

1 ADJ If a container is airtight , its lid fits so tightly that no air can get in or out. □  Store the cookies in an airtight tin.

2 ADJ An airtight alibi, case, argument, or agreement is one that has been so carefully put together that nobody will be able to find a fault in it. [AM ] □  Mick had an airtight alibi. in BRIT, use watertight

ai r time also airtime N‑UNCOUNT The airtime that something gets is the amount of time taken up with broadcasts about it. □  Even the best women's teams get little air time.

ai r-to-ai r ADJ [ADJ n] Air-to-air combat is a battle between military aeroplanes where rockets or bullets are fired at one aeroplane from another. □  …air-to-air missiles.

ai r traf|fic con|tro l

1 N‑UNCOUNT [oft N n] Air traffic control is the activity of organizing the routes that aircraft should follow, and telling pilots by radio which routes they should take. □  …the nation's overburdened air-traffic-control system.

2 N‑UNCOUNT [with sing or pl verb] Air traffic control is the group of people who organize the routes aircraft take. □  They have to wait for clearance from air traffic control.

ai r traf|fic con|tro l|ler (air traffic controllers ) N‑COUNT An air traffic controller is someone whose job is to organize the routes that aircraft should follow, and to tell pilots by radio which routes they should take.

air|waves /eə ^r we I vz/ also air waves

1 N‑PLURAL The airwaves is used to refer to the activity of broadcasting on radio and television. For example, if someone says something over the airwaves , they say it on the radio or television. [JOURNALISM ] □  The election campaign has been fought not in street rallies but on the airwaves.

2 N‑PLURAL Airwaves are the radio waves which are used in radio and television broadcasting.

air|way /eə ^r we I / (airways )

1 N‑COUNT A person's airways are the passages from their nose and mouth down to their lungs, through which air enters and leaves their body. □  …an inflammation of the airways.

2 N‑PLURAL The airways are all the routes that planes can travel along. □  How does a private pilot get access to the airways?

3 N‑PLURAL Airways means the same as airwaves . □  The interview went out over the airways.

air|woman /eə ^r wʊmən/ (airwomen ) N‑COUNT An airwoman is a woman who flies aircraft, especially one who serves in her country's air force.