vessel

American  

[ves-uhl] / ˈvɛs əl /

noun

1. a craft for traveling on water, now usually one larger than an ordinary rowboat; a ship or boat.

2. an airship.

3. a hollow or concave utensil, as a cup, bowl, pitcher, or vase, used for holding liquids or other contents.

4. Anatomy, Zoology.  a tube or duct, as an artery or vein, containing or conveying blood or some other body fluid.

5. Botany.  a duct formed in the xylem, composed of connected cells that have lost their intervening partitions, that conducts water and mineral nutrients.

6. a person regarded as a holder or receiver of something, especially something nonmaterial.

   a vessel of grace;

   a vessel of wrath.

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vessel British  

/ ˈvɛsəl /

noun

1. any object used as a container, esp for a liquid

2. a passenger or freight-carrying ship, boat, etc

3. an aircraft, esp an airship

4. anatomy a tubular structure that transports such body fluids as blood and lymph

5. botany a tubular element of xylem tissue consisting of a row of cells in which the connecting cell walls have broken down

6. rare  a person regarded as an agent or vehicle for some purpose or quality

   she was the vessel of the Lord

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vessel Scientific  

/ vĕs′əl /

1. A blood vessel.

2. A long, continuous column made of the lignified walls of dead vessel elements, along which water flows in the xylem of angiosperms.

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Other Word Forms

• unvesseled adjective
• vesseled adjective

Etymology

Origin of vessel

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French va(i)ssel, vessel, from Latin vāscellum, from vās “vessel” ( vase ) + -cellum, diminutive suffix

Example Sentences

The landslide sank a ferry and seriously damaged another passenger vessel that had dozens of people on board, according to a police report cited by the Andina news agency.

From BBC

A base in Libya, for instance, or the Red Sea would allow Russian vessels to sail in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean for longer periods than are now within their reach.

From The Wall Street Journal

The vessel is part of a submarine programme launched in 2016 that aims to deliver a fleet of eight vessels, but opposition lawmakers have criticised the repeated delays in the project.

From Barron's

Republican and Democrat lawmakers appearing on Sunday talk shows said they supported congressional reviews of US military strikes on vessels suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean.

From BBC

Beijing quickly retaliated by sending Chinese coast guard vessels into waters around disputed islands and military drones near an outlying Japanese island.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• barge
• boat
• craft
• liner
• ocean liner
• tanker