vessel

American  

[ves-uhl] / ˈvɛs əl /

noun

1. a craft for traveling on water, now usually one larger than an ordinary rowboat; a ship or boat.

2. an airship.

3. a hollow or concave utensil, as a cup, bowl, pitcher, or vase, used for holding liquids or other contents.

4. Anatomy, Zoology. a tube or duct, as an artery or vein, containing or conveying blood or some other body fluid.

5. Botany. a duct formed in the xylem, composed of connected cells that have lost their intervening partitions, that conducts water and mineral nutrients.

6. a person regarded as a holder or receiver of something, especially something nonmaterial.

   a vessel of grace;

   a vessel of wrath.

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vessel British  

/ ˈvɛsəl /

noun

1. any object used as a container, esp for a liquid

2. a passenger or freight-carrying ship, boat, etc

3. an aircraft, esp an airship

4. anatomy a tubular structure that transports such body fluids as blood and lymph

5. botany a tubular element of xylem tissue consisting of a row of cells in which the connecting cell walls have broken down

6. rare a person regarded as an agent or vehicle for some purpose or quality

   she was the vessel of the Lord

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vessel Scientific  

/ vĕs′əl /

1. A blood vessel.

2. A long, continuous column made of the lignified walls of dead vessel elements, along which water flows in the xylem of angiosperms.

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Other Word Forms

• unvesseled adjective
• vesseled adjective

Etymology

Origin of vessel

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French va(i)ssel, vessel, from Latin vāscellum, from vās “vessel” ( vase ) + -cellum, diminutive suffix

Example Sentences

It was the lunar monolith in front of them that gently redirected their small vessel of life around the natural satellite and toward home.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

Two ships did make it through early Wednesday—a Greek-owned bulk carrier and a Liberia-flagged vessel, MarineTraffic said.

From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026

The researchers used mice lacking the CSE protein, first developed in 2008 when the protein was linked to blood vessel function and blood pressure regulation.

From Science Daily • Apr. 8, 2026

MV Lord of the Isles became the latest large vessel out of action when it was pulled from the Oban-Barra route on Tuesday due to a problem with its starboard engine.

From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026

Foley has, in fact, termed the vessel “the Titanic of the ancient world.”

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

Related Words

• barge
• boat
• craft
• liner
• ocean liner
• tanker