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.

FDR’s “arsenal of democracy” produced External link 10 battleships, 27 carriers, 211 submarines, and 310,000 aircraft to help win the war and establish Pax Americana.

From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026

Navy decommissioned its last battleship in 1992, after the military recognized that battleships had become sitting ducks, vulnerable to modern military munitions that could pick off the vessel from the sky.

From Salon • May 8, 2026

In the first decade of the 20th century, two brilliant English civilians, Arthur Pollen and Harold Isherwood, invented the world’s first modern gunnery computer to aim the big guns of battleships.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 10, 2026

That idea came under fire as long ago as the 1920s, when advocates of air power showed that battleships were vulnerable to air attack.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 1, 2026

"German battleships and submarines operating in the Atlantic sank 367,800 tons of merchant vessels from March 16 through March 23," says the announcer.

From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti