blimp
pronunciation
How to pronounce blimp in British English:
UK [blɪmp]
How to pronounce blimp in American English:
US [blɪmp]
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- Noun:
- a small nonrigid airship used for observation or as a barrage balloon
Word Origin
- blimp
- blimp: [20] The original blimp was a sort of small non-rigid military airship used in World War I. Its name is said to have come from its official designation as ‘type B (limp)’ (as opposed to ‘type A (rigid)’). Its rotund flaccidity suggested it in 1934 to the cartoonist David Low (1891– 1963) as a name for a character he had invented, a fat pompous ex-army officer (in full, Colonel Blimp) who was always cholerically airing reactionary views. The British public evidently recognized the character as an all too common type, and his name became a generic one, to the extent of inspiring spin-offs such as blimpish.
- blimp (n.)
- 1916, of obscure origin, many claimants. "One of the weird coinages of the airmen" [Weekley]. Common theory is that it is from designers' prototype nickname Type B-limp, in the sense of "without internal framework," as opposed to Type A-rigid; thus see limp (adj.).
Example
- 1. The metal framework also allowed zeppelins to be built much larger than a gas-filled blimp .
- 2. Other companies experimenting with airborne power generation include sky windpower , which is building flying generators , and magenn power , which uses a helium blimp to carry turbines .
- 3. A blimp can be stored in the back of a jeep , driven to a suitable location , launched in a couple of hours and winched down again even faster .
- 4. Indeed , to war ds the end of 2004 , when a blimp broke its tether north of baghdad and started to drift towards iran , the american air force had trouble shooting it down .
- 5. Moreover , they usually stay aloft even when punctured : the pressure of the helium inside a blimp is about the same as that of the air outside , so the gas does not rush out .