torpedo boat

noun

1. a small, fast, highly maneuverable boat used for torpedoing enemy shipping.

torpedo boat

noun

1. (formerly) a small high-speed warship designed to carry out torpedo attacks in coastal waters

Word History and Origins

Origin of torpedo boat¹

An Americanism dating back to 1800–10

Example Sentences

Navy planes to bomb North Vietnamese torpedo boat bases and called on Congress to authorize the use of force.

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Iran could also launch 'swarm attacks' on US Navy warships using drones and fast torpedo boats, something that the Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy has practiced exhaustively over the years.

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George Chandler, 99, served aboard a British motor torpedo boat as part of a flotilla that escorted the U.S.

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He crossed the same waters to save himself and 10 members of his crew after a Japanese destroyer split their torpedo boat, PT-109, in the predawn darkness of Aug. 2, 1943.

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It said the vague outline could be made out on the radar scans as well as a second object, possibly a German torpedo boat, longer but more narrow.

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