man-of-war

variants also man-o'-war

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of man-of-war Nassau had no men-of-war ships, and Trott’s stone fort was still a building site. Sean Kingsley, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2024 My hundred-and-forty-foot man-of-war sought to make the first mission to the South Pole, a feat that would bring pride to England. Mike O’Brien, The New Yorker, 7 Nov. 2023 Its lyrics, about a sailor bidding goodbye to his lover before boarding a man-of-war bound for England, were written not by Mr. Whittaker but by a British silversmith who responded to a radio contest in which Mr. Whittaker invited listeners to send in verses, with the best put to music. Harrison Smith, Washington Post, 19 Sep. 2023 Just as airpower eventually killed off the great men-of-war that had ruled the waves for millennia, so cyberweapons might strip other weapons or tactics of their utility. Kenneth M. Pollack, Foreign Affairs, 19 Apr. 2022 The average man-of-war was estimated by a leading shipwright to last only fourteen years. David Grann, The New Yorker, 28 Feb. 2023 In May, the old East Indiaman finally emerged from the Deptford Dockyard as a man-of-war. David Grann, The New Yorker, 28 Feb. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for man-of-war
Noun
  • Many of these come with steamers or colanders for draining pasta water.
    BestReviews, The Mercury News, 12 Feb. 2025
  • The steamer has yet to confirm a release date for KPopped.
    Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 5 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • What's next: Sens. Mike Lee and John Curtis, both Utah Republicans, want the option to build warships and major components overseas, in NATO countries and friendly Indo-Pacific areas (think Japan or South Korea).
    Colin Demarest, Axios, 8 Mar. 2025
  • At the same time, Chinese warships have been sighted near Vietnam and Taiwan, part of a show of Chinese naval strength in the Pacific region that regularly rattles US allies.
    Hilary Whiteman, CNN, 6 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • These preyed upon American merchantmen who either payed tribute or showed forged British passes.
    Thomas Wendel, National Review, 4 July 2019
  • The Navy already has ships in the fleet that are former merchantmen.
    Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 10 Jan. 2019
Noun
  • The twentieth-century struggle for African independence began in Paris salons hosted by the daughters of elite blacks, then travelled by telegram and steamship.
    JSTOR Daily, JSTOR Daily, 20 Feb. 2025
  • Infected rats likely brought the disease from steamships to the shore.
    Sarah Holzmann, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • Last fall Vineyard Theatre premiered the Wind and the Rain: A Story About Sunny’s Bar, on a barge in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
    Jeryl Brunner, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2025
  • On Saturday, dozens of spectators and journalists watched the tugs maneuver the barge into place while police kept boaters away from the site.
    Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • Daryl was taken captive in Maine by a crew of French sailors and shipped back to France on a freighter ship.
    Erik Kain, Forbes, 24 Oct. 2024
  • The thick ice even temporarily stranded a Canadian cargo freighter.
    Jonathan Granoff, Newsweek, 29 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Chambers says oral history, passed on by Koh Samui locals, states the tanker was torpedoed by a submarine.
    Ronan O'Connell, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Feb. 2025
  • All tanker vessels will need to comply to reduce emissions in California ports by the beginning of 2027.
    Katie Fehrenbacher, Axios, 26 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • Maritime Museum of San Diego seeks volunteers The nonprofit Maritime Museum of San Diego starts the next Docent Volunteer Training Program for newcomers Jan. 21 at the museum on the upper deck of the ferryboat Berkeley.
    Linda Mcintosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Jan. 2025
  • For example, when over 1,000 people died in a ferryboat accident in the Red Sea in 2006, critics accused the military of failing to deploy quickly enough to rescue them.
    Jeff Martini, Foreign Affairs, 1 Sep. 2011

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Cite this Entry

“Man-of-war.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/man-of-war. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.

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