battle cruiser

American  

noun

1. a warship of maximum speed and firepower, but with lighter armor than a battleship.

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battle cruiser British  

noun

1. a warship of battleship size but with lighter armour and fewer guns and capable of high speed

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Etymology

Origin of battle cruiser

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

battle cruiser

His first ship was the Grafton, a Royal Navy battle cruiser that served in World War I. Scruffy handwriting made the logbooks hard to read, but Purves was hooked.

From Reuters ● Dec. 11, 2019

That opening scene with the imperial battle cruiser coming out of the top of the screen was absolutely mind-bending.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 22, 2018

It is accompanied by the Peter the Great, a massive battle cruiser, with a fearsome array of missiles, but which are designed to hit planes, ships and submarines rather than attack land targets.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 4, 2016

Next in the flotilla, in terms of firepower, is the Russian nuclear-powered battle cruiser Peter the Great.

From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2016

Fortunately there was a battle cruiser in the Polar spaceport on a goodwill mission.

From To Choke an Ocean by Bone, Jesse F. (Jesse Franklin)