Flying Dutchman
Americannoun
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a legendary Dutch ghost ship supposed to be seen at sea, especially near the Cape of Good Hope.
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the captain of this ship, supposed to have been condemned to sail the sea, beating against the wind, until the Day of Judgment.
noun
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legend
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a phantom ship sighted in bad weather, esp off the Cape of Good Hope
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the captain of this ship
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a type of dinghy, designed to be crewed by two people
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That means that two patties and two slices of cheese — the equivalent of a Flying Dutchman — will be charged at the price of a Flying Dutchman.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 28, 2025
His flag also features the England three lions badge and the names of two pubs in Lowestoft - The Flying Dutchman and The Blues Bar.
From BBC • Dec. 6, 2022
Words, concepts and images that pervade his work have become commonplace signifiers in contemporary discourse: Valhalla, Liebestod, Valkyrie, Gesamtkunstwerk, Flying Dutchman, Nibelung, Brünnhilde, Götterdämmerung, Siegfried, Leitmotiv, endless melody, to name just a few.
From New York Times • Sep. 16, 2020
By December, the Weatherbird II had become a modern Flying Dutchman, homeless until the ship’s crew promised to suspend operations and docked in Madeira.
From Slate • Nov. 16, 2016
He was Cain, Ulysses, the Flying Dutchman; he was Lot in Sodom, Deirdre of the Sorrows, Sweeney in the nightingales among trees.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
