flagship
Americannoun
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a ship carrying the flag officer or the commander of a fleet, squadron, or the like, and displaying the officer's flag.
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the main vessel of a shipping company.
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any of the best or largest ships or airplanes operated by a passenger line.
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the best or most important one of a group or system.
This store is the flagship of our retail chain.
adjective
noun
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a ship, esp in a fleet, aboard which the commander of the fleet is quartered
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the most important ship belonging to a shipping company
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a single item from a related group considered as the most important, often in establishing a public image
the nine o'clock news is the flagship of the BBC
Etymology
Origin of flagship
Explanation
Traditionally, the commander of a navy traveled in the flagship, which was distinguished by flying his distinctive flag. You can also call the ship in the front of a fleet the flagship. The flagship is generally the most powerful in some way — better armed, or larger, than the ships that follow it. Ultimately, the most important thing about a flagship is that it's first. Based on this meaning, another kind of flagship is something that's the first, best, or biggest example of something — a product, store, or program, for example. Starbucks' enormous flagship coffee shop, the company's largest and fanciest shop, is in Seattle, Washington.
Vocabulary lists containing flagship
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.
US company Flagship Gold Corp. signed an agreement with Mali in October to take over a gold mine in Morilla.
From Barron's • Apr. 8, 2026
Appeared in the October 1, 2025, print edition as 'Cardinal Health to Build Flagship Pharma Plant in Indianapolis'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 30, 2025
Flagship Group wants to demolish and rebuild almost half the 1,100 properties on the Abbey Estate in Thetford, Norfolk – and add almost 500 more homes to the area.
From BBC • Aug. 9, 2024
The Lahesmaa group is based at Turku Bioscience Centre of the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University in Finland and is part of the InFLAMES Research Flagship.
From Science Daily • May 30, 2024
During the visit of the American Fleet all the spoons were stolen from the Flagship during a reception.
From The Awful Australian by Desmond, Valerie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
