brig

[brig]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR brig ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Nautical.

a two-masted vessel square-rigged on both masts.
(formerly, in the U.S. Navy) an armed brig-rigged or brigantine-rigged vessel.
the compartment of a ship where prisoners are confined.

a place of confinement or detention, especially in the U.S. Navy or Marines; guardhouse.

Origin of brig

First recorded in 1705–15; short for brigantine

Brig.

brigade.

brigadier.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for brig

stockade, prison, slammer, guardhouse

Examples from the Web for brig

Contemporary Examples of brig

Manning was forced to strip and remain on a suicide-risk regime against the recommendations of Brig mental-health professionals.
Bradley Manning: ‘I Will Recover From This ... This Is Just a Stage in My Life’
Alexa O'Brien
August 21, 2013

Historical Examples of brig

We had a ship, a brig, and twelve schooners, fourteen sail in all.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
I soon began to climb the rigging of the brig, ascending to the mast-heads.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
The brig loaded with cocao, in bulk, at Guayaquil, and sailed for Cadiz.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
We sailed two days after I joined the brig, and had a ten or twelve days' passage.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
The brig sailed, however, and stood across the Atlantic, as if in good earnest.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper

British Dictionary definitions for brig

brig

noun

nautical a two-masted square-rigger

mainly US a prison, esp in a navy ship

Word Origin for brig

C18: shortened from brigantine

brig

noun

a Scot and northern English word for a bridge 1

Brig.

abbreviation for

Brigadier

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for brig

1720, colloquial shortening of brigantine (q.v.). Apparently such vessels being used for prison ships upon retirement from active duty led to extended meaning "a jail," first recorded 1852.