corvette
Americannoun
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corvettes
plural
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a warship of the old sailing class, having a flush deck and usually one tier of guns.
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a lightly armed, fast ship used mostly for convoy escort and ranging in size between a destroyer and a gunboat.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of corvette
1630–40; < French, Middle French < Middle Dutch corver pursuit boat (derivative of corf fishing boat, literally, basket), with suffix altered to -ette -ette
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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.
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AFP journalists near the Simon's Town base saw the Russian-flagged corvette vessel pull into False Bay.
From Barron's ● Jan. 9, 2026
A small corvette, on the other hand, could be built much more quickly, Clark said, particularly if the Navy works with a foreign shipbuilder.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025
In 1939, a Royal Navy corvette due to be named HMS Pansy became HMS Heartsease just before it was launched.
From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2025
At least two warships could be seen in the photos, one whose gangway identified it as the Chinese navy corvette Wenshan.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 7, 2023
She was a fine craft of the kind human beings call a corvette.
From Shireen and her Friends Pages from the Life of a Persian Cat by Gordon Stables
Two Chinese anti-submarine corvettes have docked at its port for long stretches, although US and Japanese vessels have also made port calls since the base's revamp.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
The new fleet would comprise a number of large warships outfitted with more powerful long-range missiles, along with smaller ships such as corvettes, the people said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025
Its maritime arm dispatched frigates and corvettes to patrol the coastal waters with little event.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2024
It also says China is constructing two new A56 corvettes for its own navy, and insists that the Chinese presence in Ream is not permanent, so does not count as a base.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2024
Footnote 50: The allied fleet comprised 23 line-of-battle ships, 31 frigates and corvettes, 29 smaller steamers and gunboats, and 18 other craft.
From The Letters of Queen Victoria : A Selection from Her Majesty's Correspondence between the Years 1837 and 1861 Volume 3, 1854-1861 by Arthur Christopher Benson
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.
