frigate
Americannoun
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a fast naval vessel of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, generally having a lofty ship rig and heavily armed on one or two decks.
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any of various types of modern naval vessels ranging in size from a destroyer escort to a cruiser, frequently armed with guided missiles and used for aircraft carrier escort duty, shore bombardment, and miscellaneous combat functions.
noun
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a medium-sized square-rigged warship of the 18th and 19th centuries
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a warship larger than a corvette and smaller than a destroyer
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(formerly) a warship larger than a destroyer and smaller than a cruiser
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a small escort vessel
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Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of frigate
1575–85; < Middle French frégate < Italian fregata, Sicilian fragata (> Spanish, Catalan, Pg); of obscure origin
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Explanation
A frigate is a large boat that's used by a military during wartime. If you join the Navy, you may be assigned to work on a frigate. Ahoy! The word frigate has been used for a variety of seagoing vessels ever since the late 15th century. Over time, it's generally referred to larger and larger boats — the original frigates had oars and sails. One thing most frigates have had in common is maneuverability, or the ability to move with speed and agility. Today's frigate often carries a guided missile launcher.
Vocabulary lists containing frigate
Black Swan Green
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Chapter 10: The Jefferson Era
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The Downstairs Girl
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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.
Upon sailing into the harbor, they realized the frigate was too damaged to sail, so rather than leave it in enemy hands, they burned it to the waterline.
From Salon • Jul. 4, 2026
A US frigate, the USS Fort Lauderdale, is currently positioned off the coast of La Guaira.
From BBC • Jun. 29, 2026
Babcock said it booked a 140 million pounds non-recurring contract charge driven by inflation and engineering re-work on the Type 31 frigate program for the U.K.’s Royal Navy.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 22, 2026
The frigate thought to be involved in Tuesday's incident was being shadowed by the HMS Mersey, it is understood.
From BBC • Jun. 16, 2026
On Christmas Day, 1696, a Portuguese relief force in the form of four ships, led by the heavily armed frigate the Santo Antonio de Tanna, arrived in the waters directly in front of the fort.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
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.
