pinnace
Americannoun
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a light sailing ship, especially one formerly used in attendance on a larger ship.
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any of various kinds of ship's boats.
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a small 17th-century ship having two or three masts and a flat stern, used in northern Europe as a warship and merchant ship and as a tender.
noun
Etymology
Origin of pinnace
1540–50; < Middle French pinace < Old Spanish pinaza literally, something made of pino pine 1
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.
On Apr. 4, the Prince will pay a short visit to this small enclave British possession on the west coast of Africa, landing at Bathurst in the bright-blue steam pinnace.
From Time Magazine Archive
Though they dived on the Firth of Forth bridge and the naval base, the only things they hit were the Admiral's barge and a pinnace moored to the cruiser Southampton.
From Time Magazine Archive
Now in James Town they were all in combustion, the strongest preparing once more to run away with the pinnace for England.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
He says the largest one is the Susan Constant, next in size is the Godspeed, and the smallest, a pinnace, is the Discovery.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
Then, the men giving a parting cheer that echoed and re-echoed from the shore, the ship stood away under full sail with the pinnace riding merrily astern.
From With Drake on the Spanish Main by Strang, Herbert
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.
