Question

a special plane stood waiting for the president find the italicized word

Answer 1

Italics can be used sparingly for emphasis. So here in this sentence, it depends on the what the author wanted to emphasize. I could envision circumstances where <i>special, or special plane, or even president</i> could be italicized for emphasis. It would depend on context.

Answer 2

There is no word to be italicized.

If it were a ship with a particular name (such as <i>USS Texas</i>), then it would be italicized ... but there's not.

Perhaps if you gave us the entire context -- the whole paragraph -- in which the sentence exists, we could tell better. As it is, this is quite a vague example.

Answer 3

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/italics.htm
(from Writeacher's links, thanks)

Answer 4

PS -- the initials "USS" should not be italicized in my post!!