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torpedo boat

American

noun

a small, fast, highly maneuverable boat used for torpedoing enemy shipping.

torpedo boat British

noun

(formerly) a small high-speed warship designed to carry out torpedo attacks in coastal waters

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of torpedo boat

An Americanism dating back to 1800–10

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.

U-557 was rammed in error by the Italian torpedo boat Orione, west of Crete, and was sunk with all hands.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025

Navy planes to bomb North Vietnamese torpedo boat bases and called on Congress to authorize the use of force.

From Salon • Sep. 7, 2025

George Chandler, 99, served aboard a British motor torpedo boat as part of a flotilla that escorted the U.S.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 4, 2024

It said the vague outline could be made out on the radar scans as well as a second object, possibly a German torpedo boat, longer but more narrow.

From BBC • Jun. 30, 2023

American planes took off from nearby aircraft carriers and made sixty-four sorties over North Vietnam, bombing their torpedo boat fleet and a major oil depot.

From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023