fire ship
a vessel loaded with combustibles and explosives, ignited, and set adrift to destroy an enemy's ships or constructions.
Origin of fire ship
1Words Nearby fire ship
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use fire ship in a sentence
But a shower of shells sent the daring tug-boat to the bottom, and the fire-ship floated away.
Stories of Our Naval Heroes | VariousThe other and larger fire-ship, called the "Hope," narrowly escaped a similar fate.
The Revolt of The Netherlands, Complete | Friedrich SchillerA fire-ship falling foul of four Dutch ships, the whole were burnt.
How Britannia Came to Rule the Waves | W.H.G. KingstonOn the 12th of August it appeared at Deptford, on board the Providence fire-ship, which was just fitting out to go to sea.
How Britannia Came to Rule the Waves | W.H.G. KingstonCaptain Heath, however, succeeded in burning her with another fire-ship, in the most gallant manner.
How Britannia Came to Rule the Waves | W.H.G. Kingston
British Dictionary definitions for fire ship
a vessel loaded with explosives and used, esp formerly, as a bomb by igniting it and directing it to drift among an enemy's warships
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
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