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Synonyms

warship

American  
[wawr-ship] / ˈwɔrˌʃɪp /

noun

  1. a ship built or armed for combat purposes.

warship British  
/ ˈwɔːˌʃɪp /

noun

  1. a vessel armed, armoured, and otherwise equipped for naval warfare

"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 warship

First recorded in 1525–35; war 1 + ship 1

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.

On Saturday, the USS Tripoli, a naval warship, arrived in the Middle East carrying about 3,500 sailors and Marines and a transport of fighter planes.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026

Central Command reported a majority of Iran’s missile, drone, and warship facilities are damaged or destroyed.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

Large crowds gathered in central Tehran on Wednesday for the funerals of Larijani, Soleimani, and the 84 sailors killed when the US sank an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka earlier this month.

From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026

The free service has become an annual tradition, and more than 1,400 people signed up to travel by warship this year.

From Barron's • Mar. 17, 2026

The greatest British warship of them all were called men-of-war—floating cities that could hold a thousand men and almost a hundred big cannons.

From I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 by Lauren Tarshis

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.