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Glite Dictionary
dreadnought

dreadnought

2 9.9
A large early 20th century warship with very big guns all the same size and high speed
  • noun
  • /ˈdrɛdˌnɔt/
  • Archaic
translation icon : dreadnought
  • There is a great difference between coal-powered WWI Dreadnoughts and modern-day nuclear-powered ships.
  • dreadnought battleship
  • dreadnought era
  • guns of a dreadnought

Examples

  • It's not every day we get a shot at a dreadnought, so let's make this count.

    Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

  • The dreadnought shuddered and rolled.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • The Audacious, one of Britain's most modern super dreadnoughts, was sunk by a German mine off the Irish coast.

  • The French introduced ironclad warships before the British did, and even when the British made a breakthrough—as with the Dreadnought class big-gun battleships—it was with the knowledge that their technological rivals, Germany and the United States, would soon follow suit.

    Academic text (2004)

  • The launch of HMS Dreadnought in 1906 marked a significant advancement in naval firepower.

  • Many naval historians regard the British dreadnought as a pivotal development in modern warfare.

  • With her speed and firepower, the revolutionary dreadnought changed the design of future battleships.

Synonyms

warship
vsdreadnought
140 3.6

A navy boat built for fighting at sea

is the narrow early twentieth century heavy vessel type with uniform big guns
battleship
vsdreadnought
  • Archaic
68 5.5

A large ship used in war with thick metal armor and big guns

is a specific early type with uniform large guns and greater speed
dreadnaught
vsdreadnought
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A large battleship from the early 1900s with very big guns

is the same ship type but uses the different preferred spelling
battlewagon
vsdreadnought
  • Archaic
1 9.2

A large warship with heavy armor and big guns

is the specific early uniform gun type rather than any heavy sea vessel

How Armed

dreadnought
  • Archaic
2 9.9
battleship
  • Archaic
68 5.5
cruiser
  • Specialized
50 7.4
gunship
  • Specialized
28 6.5
starfighter
3 9.5
fighter
  • Specialized
359 4.6

Surface Forms

dreadnought singular
dreadnoughts plural

Morphology

dreadnought = dread + nought (semi-transparent) = dread + nought

The compound 'dread' + 'nought' literally means 'fear nothing', which is clear from the components, but the specialized meaning 'a type/class of battleship' is a later, figurative naming and not directly deducible for all learners.

Etymology

Dreadnought comes from the old parts dread ('fear') and nought ('nothing'), so it originally meant 'fear nothing'. A British warship named HMS Dreadnought was meant to show it 'feared nothing', and because that ship changed how ships were built the name now refers to the powerful early 20th-century battleship.