Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A ship built or armed for use in war; a vessel for war.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word war-ship.

Examples

  • I knew there was nothing in them and no bottom to the whole story; and the drums and shouts and cries from Tanugamanono and the town keeping up an all night corybantic chorus in the moonlight — the moon rose late — and the search-light of the war-ship in the harbour making a jewel of brightness as it lit up the bay of

    Vailima Letters 2005

  • Marines, and was lost on the Dogger Bank in the war-ship

    Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin 2005

  • Straits Settlements, instead of representing to the Sultan the misconduct, actual or supposed, of his officers, sent a war-ship to seize and punish them.

    The Golden Chersonese and the way thither Isabella Lucy 2004

  • Toward evening, when the officers clustered together on the forward bridge, the band of the Second Infantry played tune after tune, until on our quarter the glorious sun sunk in the red west, and, one by one, the lights blazed out on troop-ship and war-ship for miles ahead and astern, as they steamed onward through the brilliant tropic night.

    The Rough Riders Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919 1992

  • ` But the tale persists that one man survived that last voyage, and returned to the Barachans, only to be captured by a Zingaran war-ship.

    The Conan Chronicles Howard, Robert E. 1989

  • The white-haired man of the war-ship came with him, with his single white eye; his other eye was sealed shut against something he had seen.

    Heir of Sea and Fire McKillip, Patricia A. 1977

  • Another war-ship eased to the windward side; a third guarded the stem.

    Heir of Sea and Fire McKillip, Patricia A. 1977

  • On the platform of Plymouth Church he was as a king upon his throne, or the commander of a war-ship in victorious action.

    Hidden Treasures Or, Why Some Succeed While Others Fail Harry A. Lewis

  • Once on board the _San Jacinto_ they were treated more like guests on a private yacht, having "seats at the captain's table," than as enemy prisoners on an American war-ship.

    Great Britain and the American Civil War Ephraim Douglass Adams

  • If a belligerent war-ship came into a British port, no change or increase of equipment was to be permitted.

    Great Britain and the American Civil War Ephraim Douglass Adams

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.