air unit
1
4.8
- noun
- /ɛr ˈjunɪt/
- Specialized
:
unidad aérea
- The sheriff's office launched a concentrated effort to find the intruder Monday, with police and tracking dogs searching on the ground and an air unit looking for the suspect from above.
Examples
-
Soviet air units arrived to support the Chinese land war, but only after delays during the early phases of China's participation in the conflict.
Academic text (2018) -
The air unit was deployed to monitor enemy movements from above.
-
MAN 3: Air unit, stand by.
-
And get me two air units down here now!
Fiction book (1995) -
Have additional air units respond to our location.
-
Requesting backup and an air unit.
-
Requesting backup and an air unit.
-
Any air unit, come in on Wilshire frequency.
-
Any air unit, come in on Wilshire frequency.
-
Land and air units...?
Fiction book (2000)
Synonyms
241
5.5
A group of military aircraft that fly together
114
5.5
A military air unit of several aircraft and their crews
57
6.3
A military group of aircraft and people that has several squadrons
1
5.4
A unit of the United States Air Force larger than a squadron and smaller than a wing
A group in the United States Air Force that has two or more wings and controls them
How Large
- Jargon
- Jargon
57
6.3
- Specialized
1
4.8
- Specialized
114
5.5
- Jargon
241
5.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a military group equipped for aerial operations' is directly derivable from combining 'air' (aviation/relating to aircraft) with 'unit' (a group or organizational section), where 'air' specifies the domain of the unit. This noun–noun compositional pattern is common and cross-linguistically regular, so an average B1 learner who knows both constituents would likely infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Air unit comes from joining air and unit: a unit is a small military group and air shows it works in the sky, so the phrase means 'a military group that operates by aircraft'.