Flying Dutchman
Americannoun
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a legendary Dutch ghost ship supposed to be seen at sea, especially near the Cape of Good Hope.
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the captain of this ship, supposed to have been condemned to sail the sea, beating against the wind, until the Day of Judgment.
noun
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legend
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a phantom ship sighted in bad weather, esp off the Cape of Good Hope
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the captain of this ship
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a type of dinghy, designed to be crewed by two people
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.
That means that two patties and two slices of cheese — the equivalent of a Flying Dutchman — will be charged at the price of a Flying Dutchman.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 28, 2025
His flag also features the England three lions badge and the names of two pubs in Lowestoft - The Flying Dutchman and The Blues Bar.
From BBC • Dec. 6, 2022
The following year, the Kroll Opera, Otto Klemperer’s progressive Berlin company, delivered a counterblow to the nazification of Wagner when it mounted The Flying Dutchman in proletarian modern dress.
From The Guardian • Sep. 17, 2020
Words, concepts and images that pervade his work have become commonplace signifiers in contemporary discourse: Valhalla, Liebestod, Valkyrie, Gesamtkunstwerk, Flying Dutchman, Nibelung, Brünnhilde, Götterdämmerung, Siegfried, Leitmotiv, endless melody, to name just a few.
From New York Times • Sep. 16, 2020
For a while I worried that Viking 1 had been condemned, like the legendary Flying Dutchman, to wander the skies of Mars forever, never to find safe haven.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
