plane
    adj 1: having a surface without slope, tilt in which no part is
           higher or lower than another; "a flat desk"; "acres of
           level farmland"; "a plane surface"; "skirts sewn with
           fine flat seams" [syn: flat, level, plane]
    n 1: an aircraft that has a fixed wing and is powered by
         propellers or jets; "the flight was delayed due to trouble
         with the airplane" [syn: airplane, aeroplane, plane]
    2: (mathematics) an unbounded two-dimensional shape; "we will
       refer to the plane of the graph as the X-Y plane"; "any line
       joining two points on a plane lies wholly on that plane"
       [syn: plane, sheet]
    3: a level of existence or development; "he lived on a worldly
       plane"
    4: a power tool for smoothing or shaping wood [syn: plane,
       planer, planing machine]
    5: a carpenter's hand tool with an adjustable blade for
       smoothing or shaping wood; "the cabinetmaker used a plane for
       the finish work" [syn: plane, carpenter's plane,
       woodworking plane]
    v 1: cut or remove with or as if with a plane; "The machine
         shaved off fine layers from the piece of wood" [syn:
         plane, shave]
    2: travel on the surface of water [syn: plane, skim]
    3: make even or smooth, with or as with a carpenter's plane;
       "plane the top of the door"

Plane \Plane\, n. [F., fr. L. platanus, Gr. ?, fr. ? broad; --
   so called on account of its broad leaves and spreading form.
   See Place, and cf. Platane, Plantain the tree.] (Bot.)
   Any tree of the genus Platanus.
   [1913 Webster]

   Note: The Oriental plane (Platanus orientalis) is a native
         of Asia. It rises with a straight, smooth, branching
         stem to a great height, with palmated leaves, and long
         pendulous peduncles, sustaining several heads of small
         close-sitting flowers. The seeds are downy, and
         collected into round, rough, hard balls. The Occidental
         plane (Platanus occidentalis), which grows to a great
         height, is a native of North America, where it is
         popularly called sycamore, buttonwood, and
         buttonball, names also applied to the California
         species (Platanus racemosa).
         [1913 Webster]

Plane \Plane\, a. [L. planus: cf. F. plan. See Plan, a.]
   Without elevations or depressions; even; level; flat; lying
   in, or constituting, a plane; as, a plane surface.
   [1913 Webster]

   Note: In science, this word (instead of plain) is almost
         exclusively used to designate a flat or level surface.
         [1913 Webster]

   Plane angle, the angle included between two straight lines
      in a plane.

   Plane chart, Plane curve. See under Chart and Curve.
      

   Plane figure, a figure all points of which lie in the same
      plane. If bounded by straight lines it is a rectilinear
      plane figure, if by curved lines it is a curvilinear plane
      figure.

   Plane geometry, that part of geometry which treats of the
      relations and properties of plane figures.

   Plane problem, a problem which can be solved geometrically
      by the aid of the right line and circle only.

   Plane sailing (Naut.), the method of computing a ship's
      place and course on the supposition that the earth's
      surface is a plane.

   Plane scale (Naut.), a scale for the use of navigators, on
      which are graduated chords, sines, tangents, secants,
      rhumbs, geographical miles, etc.

   Plane surveying, surveying in which the curvature of the
      earth is disregarded; ordinary field and topographical
      surveying of tracts of moderate extent.

   Plane table, an instrument used for plotting the lines of a
      survey on paper in the field.

   Plane trigonometry, the branch of trigonometry in which its
      principles are applied to plane triangles.
      [1913 Webster]

Plane \Plane\, v. i.
   Of a boat, to lift more or less out of the water while in
   motion, after the manner of a hydroplane; to hydroplane.
   [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Plane \Plane\, n. [F. plane, L. plana. See Plane, v. & a.]
   1. (Geom.) A surface, real or imaginary, in which, if any two
      points are taken, the straight line which joins them lies
      wholly in that surface; or a surface, any section of which
      by a like surface is a straight line; a surface without
      curvature.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Astron.) An ideal surface, conceived as coinciding with,
      or containing, some designated astronomical line, circle,
      or other curve; as, the plane of an orbit; the plane of
      the ecliptic, or of the equator.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Mech.) A block or plate having a perfectly flat surface,
      used as a standard of flatness; a surface plate.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. (Joinery) A tool for smoothing boards or other surfaces of
      wood, for forming moldings, etc. It consists of a
      smooth-soled stock, usually of wood, from the under side
      or face of which projects slightly the steel cutting edge
      of a chisel, called the iron, which inclines backward,
      with an apperture in front for the escape of shavings; as,
      the jack plane; the smoothing plane; the molding plane,
      etc.
      [1913 Webster]

   Objective plane (Surv.), the horizontal plane upon which
      the object which is to be delineated, or whose place is to
      be determined, is supposed to stand.

   Perspective plane. See Perspective.

   Plane at infinity (Geom.), a plane in which points
      infinitely distant are conceived as situated.

   Plane iron, the cutting chisel of a joiner's plane.

   Plane of polarization. (Opt.) See Polarization.

   Plane of projection.
      (a) The plane on which the projection is made,
          corresponding to the perspective plane in perspective;
          -- called also principal plane.
      (b) (Descriptive Geom.) One of the planes to which points
          are referred for the purpose of determining their
          relative position in space.

   Plane of refraction or Plane of reflection (Opt.), the
      plane in which lie both the incident ray and the refracted
      or reflected ray.
      [1913 Webster]

Plane \Plane\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Planed; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Planing.] [Cf. F. planer, L. planare, fr. planus. See
   Plane, a., Plain, a., and cf. Planish.]
   1. To make smooth; to level; to pare off the inequalities of
      the surface of, as of a board or other piece of wood, by
      the use of a plane; as, to plane a plank.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To efface or remove.
      [1913 Webster]

            He planed away the names . . . written on his
            tables.                               --Chaucer.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Figuratively, to make plain or smooth. [R.]
      [1913 Webster]

            What student came but that you planed her path.
                                                  --Tennyson.
      [1913 Webster]

aeroplane \aer"*o*plane`\ aeroplane \a"["e]r*o*plane`\, n.
   [a["e]ro- + plane.] (A["e]ronautics)
   1. A light rigid plane used in a["e]rial navigation to oppose
      sudden upward or downward movement in the air, as in
      gliding machines; specif., such a plane slightly inclined
      and driven forward as a lifting device in some flying
      machines. Also called airfoil.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   2. Hence: A heavier-than-air flying machine using such a
      device to provide lift; an airplane. In a modern
      aeroplane, the airfoils are called the wings, and most
      of the lift is derived from these surfaces. In contrast to
      helicopters, the wings are fixed to the passenger
      compartment (airframe) and do not move relative to the
      frame; thus such a machine is called a fixed-wing
      aircraft. These machines are called monoplanes, biplanes,
      triplanes, or quadruplanes, according to the number of
      main supporting planes (wings) used in their construction.
      After 1940 few planes with more than one airfoil were
      constructed, and these are used by hobbyists or for
      special purposes. Being heavier than air they depend for
      their levitation on motion imparted by the thrust from
      either propellers driven by an engine, or, in a jet plane,
      by the reaction from a high-velocity stream of gases
      expelled rearward from a jet engine. They start from the
      ground by a run on small wheels or runners, and are guided
      by a steering apparatus consisting of horizontal and
      vertical movable planes, which usually form part of the
      wings or tail. There are many varieties of form and
      construction, which in some cases are known by the names
      of their inventors. In U.S., an aeroplane is usually
      called an airplane or plane.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]