Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun nautical A
sailing ship that has been setalight and left todrift into an opposingfleet . Famously used byEnglishman Sir Francis Drake when fighting theSpanish Armada of 1588. - noun vulgar, slang A
diseased prostitute .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Francis Drake hardly figures at all: he has a couple of late scenes in a ship's cabin with map on table, saying "what shall we do, Walter?", while Clive Owen's Raleigh is the hero of the hour, single-handedly directing a fireship into the advancing CG Spanish fleet (special effects worse than an episode of Dr Who) and hence repelling the invaders.
Film Maxine 2009
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Francis Drake hardly figures at all: he has a couple of late scenes in a ship's cabin with map on table, saying "what shall we do, Walter?", while Clive Owen's Raleigh is the hero of the hour, single-handedly directing a fireship into the advancing CG Spanish fleet (special effects worse than an episode of Dr Who) and hence repelling the invaders.
Francis Drake was robbed Maxine 2007
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Francis Drake hardly figures at all: he has a couple of late scenes in a ship's cabin with map on table, saying "what shall we do, Walter?", while Clive Owen's Raleigh is the hero of the hour, single-handedly directing a fireship into the advancing CG Spanish fleet (special effects worse than an episode of Dr Who) and hence repelling the invaders.
November 2007 Maxine 2007
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Francis Drake hardly figures at all: he has a couple of late scenes in a ship's cabin with map on table, saying "what shall we do, Walter?", while Clive Owen's Raleigh is the hero of the hour, single-handedly directing a fireship into the advancing CG Spanish fleet (special effects worse than an episode of Dr Who) and hence repelling the invaders.
Francis Drake was robbed Maxine 2007
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El Draque! brought confusion and panic like the descent of a fireship.
The Drum is now beating - There is no turning back. Lionheart 2007
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At one point a Royal Navy frigate sent a boat to request that sorry chaps but could a Turkish fireship please be moved.
American Connections James Burke 2007
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I would have boarded a fireship to get into action, and mildly suggested as much to my friend Pea.
Reprinted Pieces 2007
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The Athenians, alarmed for the safety of their fleet, contrived means by which they extinguished their flames, and succeeded in keeping the fireship at a distance.
The History of the Peloponnesian War Thucydides 2007
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At one point a Royal Navy frigate sent a boat to request that sorry chaps but could a Turkish fireship please be moved.
American Connections James Burke 2007
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Here on board this veritable fireship I cannot help contemplating with a longing eye this vast ocean that surrounds us.
sionnach commented on the word fireship
a diseased prostitute
January 1, 2008
bilby commented on the word fireship
Whahahahahaha!
January 1, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word fireship
"... generally an old vessel filled with combustible materials, and fitted with sheer-hooks to the yardarms, and grappling irons to hook and set fire to the enemy's ships.
"Some English vessels ... sent among the Spanish ships composing the Invincible Armada in the year 1588, are said to have given rise to the terrible invention of fire-ships. However, Livy informs us that the Rhodians had invented a kind of fire-ships, which were used in junction with the Roman fleet, in their engagements with the Syrians, in the 190th year before Christ...."
—Falconer's New Universal Dictionary of the Marine (1816), 149
This description goes on for about two more densely packed pages, including measurements, how many barrels of gunpowder and how much other combustible material to use, where to place it, and how to use the fire-ship to the best advantage. Here's a list of names of fire-ships (mostly in the British navy, 1748).
October 11, 2008