Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To operate an aircraft; fly.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • verb fly an airplane.
  • intransitive verb colloq. To fly, or navigate the air, in an aëroplane or heavier-than-air flying machine.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To operate an aircraft.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb operate an airplane

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Back-formation from aviation.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Back-formation from aviator

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Examples

  • WILEY: The rule is that you aviate, navigate and then you communicate.

    CNN Transcript Jun 2, 2009 2009

  • They know that the pilots must adhere to the adage “aviate–navigate–communicate”—strictly in that order.

    Touching History Lynn Spencer 2008

  • They know that the pilots must adhere to the adage “aviate–navigate–communicate”—strictly in that order.

    Touching History Lynn Spencer 2008

  • If, in fact, he was alone in that airplane, and he was concentrating on trying to fix whatever was wrong, he might have had his head buried in his instruments, doing whatever needed to be done to try to take care of that problem, and might have forgotten the cardinal rule of flying, that, when you're in trouble, first thing you do is aviate the airplane.

    CNN Transcript Oct 11, 2006 2006

  • So what that really means though, even though they're being trained, the culture of the department and the old guard within the department still allow for that level of treatment and misconduct, and basically aviate whatever effect that the diversity training has.

    CNN Transcript Apr 28, 2002 2002

  • Bannister with his Billion-Dollar Mystery, yet equally unwilling to aviate from a blanket heaved by the husky athletes.

    T. Haviland Hicks Senior J. Raymond Elderdice

  • "Can you aviate – high-dive – drive a car – buck-jump – shoot?" read Miss Moss.

    Bliss, and Other Stories 1920

  • I got in an excellent drive, but unfortunately it didn't aviate quick enough.

    The Holiday Round 1919

  • "Now don't begin to aviate until you understand the truth," Speed continued.

    Going Some Rex Ellingwood Beach 1913

  • If she had resented Kennedy, she positively flew up in the air and commenced to aviate at Maloney's questioning.

    The Poisoned Pen 1908

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