merchant marine
Americannoun
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the vessels of a nation that are engaged in commerce.
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the officers and crews of such vessels.
Etymology
Origin of merchant marine
An Americanism dating back to 1850–55
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.
"Given the size of the ships, electronic assistance has become necessary to steer them," said one merchant marine captain who has sailed on cargo ships around the world.
From Barron's ● Mar. 8, 2026
One was a former merchant marine whose wooden 32-foot ketch was barely adequate for a journey through the punishing Southern Ocean.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
Greece’s minister for merchant marine, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, expressed “shock, horror and sorrow” at the incident, and identified the victim as Andonis Kargiotis, 36.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 6, 2023
He’s a merchant marine, and it just so happens that a ship full of ammo bound for Saigon is short a crew member.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2022
A merchant marine officer named Frank Worsley, a part-Maori New Zealander who had been a sailor since the age of sixteen, was to captain the ship.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
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.
