zeppelin

noun

zep·​pe·​lin ˈze-p(ə-)lən 

: a rigid airship consisting of a cylindrical trussed and covered frame supported by internal gas cells

broadly : airship

Illustration of zeppelin

Examples of zeppelin in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Key Moment: For a transportation buff, flying over the Bavarian Alps in a zeppelin. —Travel + Leisure Editors, Travel + Leisure, 12 Feb. 2025

Fortune And Glory wears its heart on its sleeve by giving player the chance to dash out of crumbling temples with treasures tucked under their arms, fight their way out of thrilling cliffhangers at the end of their turn and a chance to throw Nazi Villains out of zeppelins full of gold. —Rob Wieland, Forbes, 27 Dec. 2024

But its military potency soon became apparent, with the Germans dropping it from zeppelins as bombs over Britain in World War I, according to a history from McGill University in Montreal. —Brad Lendon, CNN, 7 Sep. 2024

The feel is at once nautical, Old World, fantastical, and stagy, like a first-class dining room on a romance-novel zeppelin, serenely crossing the Atlantic. —Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin

First Known Use

1908, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for zeppelin

• kraepelin

Kids Definition

zeppelin

noun

zep·​pe·​lin ˈzep-(ə-)lən 

: a long cylindrical passenger balloon that has a metal frame and is driven through the air by engines carried on its underside

Biographical Definition

Zeppelin

biographical name

Zep·​pe·​lin ˌtse-pə-ˈlēn 

ˈze-p(ə-)lən

Ferdinand (Adolf August Heinrich) 1838–1917 Graf von Zeppelin German general and aeronaut