sailing warship
- noun
- Archaic
:
buque de guerra de vela
- He researched the construction of a typical sailing warship of the eighteenth century.
Examples
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Naval battles were often fought with sailing warships maneuvering for the best position.
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The sailing warship was a marvel of its time.
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The museum displays a restored sailing warship from the Napoleonic era.
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Many sailing warships were used during the Age of Sail.
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The museum displayed a model of a 17th-century sailing warship that was used in major naval battles.
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During the exhibition, visitors marveled at the size and design of the sailing warship from the golden age of exploration.
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Historians studied the tactical maneuvers employed by captains of sailing warships during the age of sail.
Synonyms
140
3.6
A navy boat built for fighting at sea
7
9.9
A medium, fast sailing warship from the 1700s and 1800s used to escort and patrol
2
4.9
A military ship that moves and fights on the water's surface, not underwater
1
9.9
A large warship that fights in the main line of ships in sea battles from the 1600s to the 1800s
A small military ship with guns on one deck used to fight at sea
A ship a government uses for fighting at sea
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a warship powered by sails' is directly and compositionally derived from combining 'sailing' (propelled by sails) with 'warship' (a military vessel). This noun–noun modifier pattern is literal and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Sailing warship joins sailing (moving by wind in sails) and warship (a ship with guns). Picture a large wooden ship with many sails and rows of cannons fighting at sea before engines, so it means 'a warship powered by sails'.