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Glite Dictionary
Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

3 3.5
The United Kingdom's military force that uses planes
  • proper noun
  • UK
translation icon : Real Fuerza Aérea
  • And the principal objective of the Royal Air Force at that point was to stop the Germans, the Luftwaffe, from inflicting fatal damage to Britain's war economy.
  • the British Royal Air Force

You know, my, my, my father was a PJIPTIPJI in the, in the Royal Air Force.

Examples

  • Prince William went on to train as a RAF search and rescue pilot with the Royal Air Force, graduating as a fully operational pilot in September 2010.

    Princes of the Palace - The Royal British Family (2016)

  • For people who joined the Royal Air Force, it's part of our core ethos.

    Spitfire (2018)

  • We speak English in the Royal Air Force.

    Hurricane (2018)

  • The Royal Air Force are flying in on schedule.

    A Bridge Too Far (1977)

  • You will remember at this time most of Germany was under the weight of Royal Air Force bomber command.

    Denial (2016)

  • Speaker, as we speak, the Royal Air Force is operating the Hercules farewell fly past over all parts of the UK.

  • I was a tail gunner for the Royal Air Force.

    The Lego Batman Movie (2017)

  • The Royal Air Force has blazed a trail.

    Victory Through Air Power (1943)

  • In the Royal Air Force (RAF), we interviewed senior officers responsible for personnel.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The Royal Air Force conducted a training exercise to improve their aerial tactics.

Synonyms

RAF
vsRoyal Air Force
8 3.0

The air force of the United Kingdom

is the full formal name written without abbreviation

Surface Forms

Royal Air Force main

Morphology

royal + air + force

The meaning is directly derivable from its parts: 'royal' (associated with the monarchy or nation), 'air' (aviation), and 'force' (military group), so a learner who knows these words can infer it refers to a nation's military aviation service. Although it is a proper name, the compound follows regular compositional patterns (cf. 'Royal Navy') rather than an idiomatic or metaphorical shift, making it immediately comprehensible.

Etymology

Royal Air Force takes its name from three simple parts: Royal shows it belongs to the 'king or queen', Air means the 'sky', and Force means a group that fights. So the name tells you it is the country's military group that fights in the sky, which is why today it means the United Kingdom's air force.