man-of-war
Americannoun
-
a warship
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of man-of-war
1400–50 in sense “soldier”; late Middle English
Vocabulary lists containing man-of-war
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.
See Examples For:
This keeps them close to their prey, including the famously venomous Portuguese man-of-war.
From National Geographic ● Feb. 7, 2024
By-the-wind-sailors are related to jellyfish and the Portuguese man-of-war, which can produce a painful sting, but their tentacles are mostly harmless, Pernet said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2023
A: Although Portuguese man-of-war look like jellyfish, they are technically classified as Physalia.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 10, 2022
A news story of the day claimed that on the way to Nassau, Bonnet was involved in a fight with a Spanish man-of-war and his ship was damaged and Bonnet seriously wounded.
From Salon ● May 21, 2022
Here, all is in chaos: The Governor of Maryland is fled Annapolis, brought by the Fowey man-of-war to our camp.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Beachgoers have been warned to stay away from potentially fatal Portuguese men-of-war washed up on English and Welsh beaches.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2017
The men-of-war retain their sting when they are wet, even if they look dead, he warned.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2017
Strange creatures called Portuguese men-of-war have washed up on beaches in Cornwall, according to the council.
From Children's BBC ● Sep. 7, 2012
They come out of the sea like Portuguese men-of-war and then, amphibious, as if in some Darwinian drama, sail off to litter another of the earth's last emptinesses.
From Time Magazine Archive
Certain Australian surf bathers, several years ago, were stung by tiny creatures that turned out to be nudibranchs armed with the stingers of Portuguese men-of-war.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
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.
