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

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

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

The deployment does mark the first time that Russia has combined the aircraft carrier’s defensive capability with the offensive capability of Peter the Great, a nuclear powered battle cruiser.

From The Guardian • Oct. 20, 2016

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

From BBC • Oct. 18, 2016

Besides the ships belonging to the British and French Mediterranean fleets, there had arrived, fresh from the battle of the Falkland Islands, the Inflexible, a dreadnought battle cruiser.

From The Story of the Great War, Volume III (of 8) History of the European War from Official Sources by Reynolds, Francis J. (Francis Joseph)