U-boat

American  

[yoo-boht] / ˈyuˌboʊt /

noun

1. a German submarine.

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U-boat British  

noun

1. a German submarine, esp in World Wars I and II

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Etymology

Origin of U-boat

1910–15; < German U-Boot, short for Unterseeboot literally, undersea boat

Example Sentences

The first dog sled patrols began in eastern Greenland during World War II, when they discovered and helped destroy German weather stations, denying the Germans crucial information for their U-boat campaign in the Atlantic.

From Barron's

It became synonymous with German military power, producing the Big Bertha gun during World War I, and later building tanks and U-boat components for the Nazis.

From The Wall Street Journal

Known within their own ranks as “U-boats,” they survived under seemingly impossible conditions thanks to the ingenuity and courage of Maltzan and others like her.

From The Wall Street Journal

The German U-boat force maintained a fearsome reputation.

From The Wall Street Journal

For the most part, however, “Wolfpack” chronicles the misery, failure and deaths of U-boat crews.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• submersible