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

“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.

Read more on Salon

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

Read more on BBC

“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.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

We hope it goes on to be an annual event and are honored to be included on the maiden voyage.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The ship had cost £5.5m - and after a few months of fitting out, it made its maiden voyage off Scotland's west coast in December.

Read more on BBC