corvette

Also cor·vet

[kawr-vet]

noun

1. a warship of the old sailing class, having a flush deck and usually one tier of guns.

2. a lightly armed, fast ship used mostly for convoy escort and ranging in size between a destroyer and a gunboat.

corvette

/ kɔːˈvɛt /

noun

1. a lightly armed escort warship

Word History and Origins

Origin of corvette¹

1630–40; < French, Middle French < Middle Dutch corver pursuit boat (derivative of corf fishing boat, literally, basket), with suffix altered to -ette -ette

Word History and Origins

Origin of corvette¹

C17: from Old French, perhaps from Middle Dutch corf basket, small ship, from Latin corbis basket

Example Sentences

In 1943 he joined the Navy, where as a seaman he carried out general ship and gunnery duties on the Flower class corvette HMS Potentilla.

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The Boikiy - a corvette armed with guided missiles - broadcast the fake ID code as it passed through the Channel on Saturday.

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Its maritime arm dispatched frigates and corvettes to patrol the coastal waters with little event.

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The shapes are type A56 corvettes of the Chinese navy - 1,500-tonne warships - and they have been berthed alongside a new, Chinese-built pier that is big enough to accommodate much larger vessels.

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For many years, Israel’s three Sa’ar 5 corvettes were its largest warships, about the size of frigates.

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Related Words

• battleship 
• cutter 
• destroyer 
• frigate 
• gunboat 
• submarine