Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Runway |
RunwayNoun1. A strip of level paved surface where planes can take off and land. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "runway" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1900. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Military | A defined rectangular area of an airfield, prepared for the landing and takeoff run of aircraft along its length. (references) |
Transportation | Defined rectangular area on a land aerodorme prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft. Source: European Union. (references) |
| A straight path on land used for the take-off and landing of aircraft. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A runway is a strip of land on an airport, on which aircraft can take off and land. Runways may be hard, (often asphalt or concrete) or grass.
Large airports have several runways. They are identified by the direction in which they point, rounding to the nearest ten degrees. So, for example, a runway identified with "36" would stand for a 360 degrees direction (i.e. North), "9" for 94 degrees, and "17" for 168 degrees. Each runway can be used in two directions, and hence has two numbers. Since the directions are necessarily opposite, the number of a runway can always be found by adding or subtracting 18 from the opposite runway number (whichever yields a positive number less than 37). For example runway 10 is called runway 28 when used in the opposite direction.
If in an airport there is more than one runway pointing in the same direction, the runways are identified by the letters L, C and R, for Left, Center and Right, behind the number. Such an example would be runways "15L", "15C" and "15R". In speech runways are always referred to by saying each digit of the number, followed by 'Left', 'Right' or 'Centre' if necessary. The first example above would be referred to as "Runway One Five Left".
For fixed wing aircraft it as advantageous to perform take-offs and landings into the wind. Airports usually have several runways, running in different directions, so that this can be done for different wind directions.
See also: Aviation
A runway can also be a stage where fashion models (sometimes called runway models) display clothing.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Runway."
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Arrival | Home, goal, goalpost; landing place, landing stage; bunder; resting place; destination, harbor, haven, port, airport, spaceport; terminus, halting place, halting ground, landing strip, runway, terminal; journey's end; anchorage; (refuge). |
Departure | Starting point, starting post; point of departure, point of embarkation, place of departure, place of embarkation; port of embarkation; airport, take-off point, taxiing runway, runway, launching pad, spaceport. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | As she walks down the runway, I'm gonna pelt Kate Moss with a jelly doughnut (High Society; writing credit: Lisa Albert; Pat Dougherty) Between them and us, there isn't enough runway. (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome; writing credit: Terry Hayes; George Miller) | |
Lyrics | We touched ground on an international runway (Back In The USA; performing artist: Chuck Berry) As we taxied down the runway (All She Wants to Do Is Dance; performing artist: Don Henley) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Hit and Runway (1999) Runway One (1995) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Endeavour on Runway with Columbia on SCA Overhead. Credit: NASA. |  | "Bush Pilot" taking off with a 727 from the dirt strip at Kotzebue, Alaska A short time after the runway was paved. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |
 | Williams Field, a 20,000 foot runway, scraped out of the ice and snow. Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth. |  | Lieutenant Bortniak at the controls. Already growing a nice set of whiskers. Exploring the wreck of a Hercules C-130 at the end of the runway. Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth. |
 | B-1B sits on a runway in England. |  | Air National Guard pilots from Texas, New Jersey and Vermont await clearance to taxi onto the runway before launching. Various Air National Guard units contributed F-16 Fighting Falcons for the AEF 9 Operation Southern Watch deployment. (P.; photo by Army S.. |
 | A small plane lands on a runway in the Parashant National Monument area. Credit: Lynn Chamberlain. |  | Grond crew directing airplane (4-prop) as it taxis on runway at Roswell Air Tanker Base, New Mexico. Credit: H. Parman. |
 | YB-17 bombardment squadron, Langley, Virginia. A mighty YB-17 four-engine bomber taxiing down a runway at Langley, Virginia, just before taking off on a mission. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Concrete runway which extends over nine miles from the buildings at Ford bomber plant. Seen from front porch of farm near Ypsilanti, Michigan. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Runway" by William J. Ray Commentary: "Coming in for a touch and go I was lucky to catch this photo from the front seat of the Cessna." | "Runway" by L L Commentary: "Airport runway, Gibraltar." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Business | One aspect hereof is the extension of the runway. (references) | |
From its original length of 2,600 meters, the runway will be extended to 3,325 meters. (references) | ||
The report concludes the need for a new airport in southern Stockholm and the need for a fourth runway at Arlanda. (references) | ||
Economic History | Venezuela | A new Doppler VOR/DME has just been installed as well as a PAPI on the main runway. (references) |
Uae | A departure-only runway and master plan for future expansion are also on the drawing board. (references) | |
Lebanon | The second runway will be brought into operation once aircraft approach problems are resolved. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Runway" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Runway" is used about 488 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 488 | 12,253 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "runway": approach end of runway ♦ braking action on each third of runway ♦ elevated runway ♦ extended runway center line ♦ grass runway ♦ instrument approach runway ♦ instrument runway ♦ overshoot the runway ♦ paved runway ♦ precision approach runway ♦ precision instrumental runway ♦ runway air temperature ♦ runway alignment indicator ♦ runway basic length ♦ runway center line ♦ runway center line lights ♦ runway center line marking ♦ runway conductors ♦ runway designation marking ♦ runway edge lights ♦ runway edge marking ♦ runway end light ♦ runway end safety area ♦ runway environment ♦ runway lights ♦ runway side stripe marking ♦ runway strength ♦ runway strip ♦ runway threshold light ♦ runway threshold marking ♦ runway touchdown zone light ♦ runway touchdown zone marking ♦ runway visual range ♦ sod runway ♦ takeoff runway ♦ taxiing runway ♦ undershoot the runway. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "runway": runway-busting, runway-wrecking. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "runway"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | vathë (corral, Cote, ear ring, eardrop, fold, pen, Pinfold, run, sheep pen, sheep-cote, sheepfold, stockyard, yard), ulluk (cannelure, chamfer, groove, gutter, rut, spout), shteg i rrahur, pistë (tarmac, track), lug (groove, trough), kanal (aqueduct, canal, chamfer, channel, conduit, cut, ditch, drain, duct, excavation, flute, Fosse, gully, gut, gutter, Lade, program, programme, rabbet, sewer, trench, tube, watercourse). (various references) | |
Arabic | مدرج المطار, مدرج إقلاع وهبوط, طريق (approach, carriage way, course, lane, line, pass, passage, path, pathway, ride, right path, road, route, row, run, rut, track, trail, way). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | улей (furrow, gutter, headrace, lead, penstock, quirk, rabbet, run, spout), спуск (drop, pitch), корито на река (channel, riverbed), лесна победа (romp), бягство (bunk, escape, flight, flying, getaway), пътека (alley, footpath, footway, lode, path, pathway, runner, track, trail, walk, way), писта (course, gangway, landing strip, make way, path, track). (various references) | |
Chinese | 跑道 (raceway). (various references) | |
Czech | rozjezdová dráha (tarmac), ranvej. (various references) | |
Danish | rullebane (guide rail, roadway, running surface, taxi track, taxiway), traekkebane, landingsbane, koererille, hængebane (aerial transporter, overhead carrier, overhead runway, overhead truck), bane (course, gore, line, orbit, path, route, sheeting, trajectory, web). (various references) | |
Dutch | rolbaan (guide rail, roadway, running surface, taxi track, taxiway), rijgoot, trekbaan, monorailtransporteur (aerial transporter, overhead carrier, overhead runway, overhead truck), luchttransporteur (aerial transporter, overhead carrier, overhead runway, overhead truck). (various references) | |
Farsi | مجرا (Channel, Conduit, Cullis, Duct, Gullet, Gully, Strand, Tube, Vessel), راهرو (Aisle, Corridor, Door, Doorway, Gallery, Gangway, Passage, Passageway, Pylon, Vestibule), ردپا (Run, Spoor, Trace, Track, Wake), باندفرودگاه . (various references) | |
Finnish | vetorata, kiitorata. (various references) | |
French | piste (run, running track). (various references) | |
German | Startbahn (strip), Rollbahn (taxiway), Landebahn (landing strip), Piste (air strip, circuit, landing strip, piste, ski run, tarmac, track). (various references) | |
Greek | σιδηροτροχιές κύλισης (guide rail, roadway, running surface), γραμμή κύλισης (guide rail, roadway, running surface), γραμμή τραβήγματος, φέρουσα ταινία, τροχιά κύλισης (guide rail, roadway, running surface, track), διάδρομοσ αεροδρομίου, διάδρομος κύλισης, διάδρομος αεροδρομίου. (various references) | |
Hebrew | מסלול המראה (airstrip, tarmac). (various references) | |
Hungarian | kifutópálya (air highway, flare path, strip), visszagurító csatorna, vadcsapás (foil), leszállópálya (air strip, flare path, strip, tarmac), folyómeder (bed, river basin, river bed, watercourse, water-course). (various references) | |
Italian | pista (career, clue, course, manege, racetrack, ride, ring, road, route, scent, slope, speedway, strip, track, trail, way). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 滑走路 , 滑走路 . (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | かっそうろ. (various references) | |
Korean | 통로 (Pathway). (various references) | |
Manx | roievollagh. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | unwayray.(various references) | |
Portuguese | pista (clew, clue, lane, spoor, trace, trail). (various references) | |
Romanian | potecã (footpath, path, pathway, trackway, trail, walk), pistã de decolare, parcurs (route), albie de râu. (various references) | |
Russian | взлетная полоса (ranway). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | zaletište, uzletište (airdrome), pista (runaway). (various references) | |
Spanish | transportador monorraíl (aerial transporter, overhead carrier, overhead runway, overhead truck), transportador aéreo (aerial transporter, overhead carrier, overhead runway, overhead truck), pista dura (field of difficult access, hard field), pista de aterrizaje (airstrip), pista (arena, circuit, clew, clue, floor, green, lead, line, path, racecourse, racetrack, ring, rink, scent, slope, spoor, tarmac, track, trail), pasarela (gangplank, gangway), canalón portador, camino de rodadura (guide rail, roadway, running surface, track, way). (various references) | |
Swedish | startbana. (various references) | |
Turkish | uçak pisti (airfield, airstrip, landing field, piston plunger), pist (airfield, cinder path, course, floor, landing field, path, ring, scat, shoo, strip, tarmac, track), koşu pisti, geçit köprüsü, geçit (access, aisle, alley, alleyway, causeway, close, corridor, crossing, crossover, gangway, gap, gate, gateway, gorge, gullet, gut, parade, pass, passage, passageway, Strait, thoroughfare, vestibule, walkway). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | стежка до водопою, річище (channel). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "runway": runways. (additional references) | |
| |
"Runway" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Dunway, rinay, Rongai, Roundway, Rucwas, Runyan. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "runway" (pronounced ru"nwā') |
| 3 | -n w ā' | companionway, Greenway. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: unwary. | |
| Words within the letters "a-n-r-u-w-y" | |
-1 letter: unary. | |
-2 letters: awny, awry, nary, wany, warn, wary, waur, yarn, yawn, yuan. | |
-3 letters: any, awn, naw, nay, ran, raw, ray, run, rya, urn, wan, war, way, wry, wyn, yar, yaw. | |
-4 letters: an, ar, aw, ay, na, nu, un, ya. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-n-r-u-w-y" | |
+1 letter: runaway, runways, unweary. | |
+2 letters: runaways, underway, unwarily. | |
+3 letters: unawarely. | |
+4 letters: untowardly. | |
+5 letters: outwearying, unseaworthy, unweariedly. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Images: Digital Art 8. Quotations: Non-fiction | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Expressions 11. Expressions: Internet 12. Translations: Modern | 13. Derivations 14. Rhymes 15. Anagrams 16. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
