Air-breathing

(of an engine, aircraft, missile, etc.) to take in air from the atmosphere to oxidize the fuel for combustion.
historical examples

it is known that the swimming bladder of fishes becomes developed into the lungs of air-breathing vertebrates and man himself.
our common insects alpheus spring packard

the organs of air-breathing are called, in general, lungs (pulmones).
the wonders of life ernst haeckel

it is also singular that the land-snails at once appear instead of the intermediate forms of the air-breathing fresh-water snails.
the chain of life in geological time sir j. william dawson

it was as if some great, air-breathing sea-monster was exhaling beneath the waves.
kastle krags absalom martin

besides this, millions of air-breathing animals die, without leaving anything behind them to mark their existence.
the atlantic monthly, volume 18, no. 108, october, 1866 various

man, in common with all air-breathing animals, has two nasal cavities.
a practical physiology albert f. blaisdell

in this fish, which not only leaves the water, but is said to climb trees, the air-breathing organ is greatly developed.
a guide to the study of fishes, volume 1 (of 2) david starr jordan

and in nova scotia the bones of air-breathing reptiles and land snails have been discovered.
sea-weeds, sh-lls and fossils peter gray

air-breathing in fishes was originally performed by the unchanged walls of the œsophagus perhaps at specially vascular localities.
a guide to the study of fishes, volume 1 (of 2) david starr jordan

slab of sandstone from the coal-measures of pennsylvania, with footprints of air-breathing reptile and casts of cracks.
a manual of elementary geology charles lyell.

adjective

acquiring oxygen from the air
examples

tests have been completed on air-breathing rocket engines.