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sloop of war

American  

noun

  1. (formerly) a sailing or steam naval vessel having cannons on only one deck.


sloop of war British  

noun

  1. (formerly) a small fast sailing warship mounting some 10 to 30 small calibre guns on one deck

"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

Etymology

Origin of sloop of war

First recorded in 1695–1705

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.

For an obscure Scottish sailor newly arrived in America, Jones did well enough: he successively commanded the sloop Providence, ship Alfred and sloop of war Ranger.

From Time Magazine Archive

Wright had also written to Admiral Thomas Graves, Gage’s naval commander, asking for “immediate assistance” and “a sloop of war of some sort.”

From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen

On the clear, cold, moonlit night of February 17, 1864, John Crosby, the officer of the deck aboard the Union’s mightiest sloop of war, the USS Housatonic, stood gazing across the waters of Charleston Harbor.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

On July 6, with the red-white-and-blue ensign streaming proudly from her main truck, the sloop of war Delaware, twenty guns, of Baltimore, under Stephen Decatur, Sr., put to sea to an accompaniment of booming cannon.

From Gentlemen Rovers by Powell, E. Alexander (Edward Alexander)

It consisted of the President, the United States, and the Congress frigates, and the Argus sloop of war.

From Yankee Ships and Yankee Sailors: Tales of 1812 by Barnes, James

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