maiden voyage

noun

1. the first voyage of a ship after its acceptance by the owners from the builders.

maiden voyage

noun

1. nautical the first voyage of a vessel

Word History and Origins

Origin of maiden voyage¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Idioms and Phrases

The first experience, as in This tennis tournament is my maiden voyage in statewide competition. This term, originally meaning the first voyage of a ship, was first recorded in 1901, but the use of maiden to signify “the first time” dates from the mid-1500s.

Example Sentences

Days before the Champagne bottle was broken over the bow for its maiden voyage last week, I boarded the ship to watch the final preparations.

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Its maiden voyage was to the Persian Gulf in 2003 for the invasion that ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

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“Rubber Soul” is arguably the Beatles‘ maiden voyage into classic album-hood. No less than the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson described “Rubber Soul” as the greatest LP of all time.

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On Sunday Glen Sannox carried passengers and vehicles on her maiden voyage after completing a test run.

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“This is a really sustainably built product that our trail teams have spent a lot of time learning how to do and we’re hopeful this will give it its maiden voyage,” she said.

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