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ship of state
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noun
a nation or its affairs likened to a ship under sail.
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QUIZ YOURSELF ON "IS" VS. "ARE"
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Origin of ship of state
First recorded in 1665–75
Words nearby ship of state
shipman, shipmaster, shipmate, shipment, ship money, ship of state, ship of the line, ship of war, ship out, shipowner, shippable
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022
How to use ship of state in a sentence
Other Idioms and Phrases with ship of state
ship of state
The nation, as in We can't help but wonder who will be steering our ship of state a hundred years from now. This metaphoric expression was first recorded in English in a translation of Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince (1675).
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.