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propeller

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propeller

Screwlike device used to propel some ships and aeroplanes. A propeller has a number of curved blades that describe a helical path as they rotate with the hub, and accelerate fluid (liquid or gas) backwards during rotation. Reaction to this backward movement of fluid sets up a propulsive thrust forwards. The marine screw propeller was developed by Francis Pettit Smith in the UK and Swedish-born John Ericson in the USA and was first used in 1839.

The airscrew is used to propel piston or turboprop airplanes.



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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
This consideration led Sir George Cayley to think only of adapting a propeller to some machine having of itself an independent power of support - in a word, to a balloon ; the idea, however, being novel, or original, with Sir George, only so far as regards the mode of its application to practice.
The Balloon Hoax by Poe, Edgar Allan View in context
Once seated within what he already considered his new possession, the black's courage began to wane and when the motor was started and the great propeller commenced to whir, he screamed to the Englishman to stop the thing and permit him to alight, but the aviator could neither hear nor understand the black above the noise of the propeller and exhaust.
Tarzan the Untamed by Burroughs, Edgar Rice View in context
I had often watched her from the hotel, and wondered how she propelled herself, for apparently she had no propeller or paddles.
A Tramp Abroad by Twain, Mark View in context
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