white ensign


noun
  1. the British naval ensign, consisting of the red cross of St. George on a white field, with the British union occupying the upper quarter along the hoist.

Origin of white ensign

1
First recorded in 1875–80

Words Nearby white ensign

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use white ensign in a sentence

  • Running up the white ensign, the screens were dropped, and every available gun opened fire.

  • I opened fire with my starboard gun, hoisting white ensign at the main.

    The Story of Our Submarines | John Graham Bower
  • Stars and stripes on one shoulder, the white ensign on the other!

  • Of the sixteen cruisers which formed the wings, seven were French—and every warship of the whole lot was flying the white ensign!

    The World Peril of 1910 | George Griffith
  • From a flag-staff on one corner of this fluttered a red and white ensign, which gave way on Sundays to a Grinnell flag.

    North-Pole Voyages | Zachariah Atwell Mudge

British Dictionary definitions for White Ensign

White Ensign

noun
  1. the ensign of the Royal Navy and the Royal Yacht Squadron, having a red cross on a white background with the Union Jack at the upper corner of the vertical edge alongside the hoist: Compare Red Ensign, Blue Ensign

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