Airscrews

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A mechanical device with blades that rotates to produce thrust in aircraft, functioning as both lift and propulsion components
2. A type of rotor used in helicopters or certain aircraft engines to generate lift and maneuverability
3. Any device resembling a screw in design that is used to turn air into thrust, commonly found in aviation technology

Etymology: Airscrew is a plain compound of "air" and "screw", and the screw half carries the surprising history. A screw is a helix-shaped fastener, and the propeller on an early aircraft was named for its resemblance to one: it bores through the air much as a screw bores into wood. The name stuck to the rotor blades of helicopters, which spin in the same way, so the word describes the same principle at both scales. The plural "airscrews" is simply the plural of "airscrew", so it refers to more than one such rotor. Its meaning is the one in the definition above: a rotating set of blades that produces thrust or lift by pushing against the air.

Synonyms: propellers