man-of-war

[ man-uh v-wawr ]

/ ˈmæn əvˈwɔr /

noun, plural men-of-war.

a warship.

Words nearby man-of-war

man-mark, man-minute, man-mountain, man-o'-war bird, man-of-the-earth, man-of-war, man-of-war bird, man-of-war fish, man-sized, man-tailored, man-to-man

Origin of man-of-war

1400–50 in sense “soldier”; late Middle English

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for man-of-war

Very true,” replied Jack; “and as for a passage home in a man-of-war that will be more difficult still.
Mr. Midshipman Easy|Captain Frederick Marryat
We took of the man-of-war's men thirty-five; several are wounded, and one since dead; twenty-four are sent to headquarters.
The Naval History of the United States|Willis J. Abbot.
And you know mighty well, you ain't got any man-of-war to signal now.'
The Ebb-Tide|Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyde Osbourne
William Hotham, their Commodore, was on the man-of-war Preston.
The Voyage of The First Hessian Army from Portsmouth to New York, 1776|Albert Pfister

At all events, a call makes people come up fast enough on board a man-of-war, father.
Jacob Faithful|Captain Frederick Marryat

British Dictionary definitions for man-of-war

man-of-war

man o' war

noun plural men-of-war or men o' war

a warship

See Portuguese man-of-war

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012