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torpedo-boat destroyer

[tawr-pee-doh-boht]
noun
  1. a vessel somewhat larger than the ordinary torpedo boat, designed for destroying torpedo boats or as a more powerful form of torpedo boat.
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Origin of torpedo-boat destroyer

First recorded in 1890–95
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for torpedo-boat destroyer

Historical Examples of torpedo-boat destroyer

  • It was arranged that a torpedo-boat-destroyer should follow him, and this afforded an element of safety.

    Learning to Fly

    Claude Grahame-White

British Dictionary definitions for torpedo-boat destroyer

torpedo-boat destroyer

noun
  1. (formerly) a large powerful high-speed torpedo boat designed to destroy enemy torpedo boats: a forerunner of the modern destroyer, from which the name is derived
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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