airship

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airship (dirigible) Powered lighter-than-air craft able to control its direction of motion. A gas that is less dense than air, nowadays helium, provides lift. A rigid airship, or Zeppelin, maintains its form with a framework of girders covered by fabric or aluminium alloy. Non-rigid airships, or blimps, have no internal structure. They rely on the pressure of the contained gas to maintain the shape.

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