maiden voyage

American  

noun

1. the first voyage of a ship after its acceptance by the owners from the builders.

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maiden voyage British  

noun

1. nautical the first voyage of a vessel

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maiden voyage Idioms  

1. The first experience, as in This tennis tournament is my maiden voyage in statewide competition. This term, originally meaning the first voyage of a ship, was first recorded in 1901, but the use of maiden to signify “the first time” dates from the mid-1500s.

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Etymology

Origin of maiden voyage

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Days before the Champagne bottle was broken over the bow for its maiden voyage last week, I boarded the ship to watch the final preparations.

From The Wall Street Journal

Its maiden voyage was to the Persian Gulf in 2003 for the invasion that ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

From The Wall Street Journal

“Rubber Soul” is arguably the Beatles‘ maiden voyage into classic album-hood. No less than the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson described “Rubber Soul” as the greatest LP of all time.

From Salon

On Sunday Glen Sannox carried passengers and vehicles on her maiden voyage after completing a test run.

From BBC

“This is a really sustainably built product that our trail teams have spent a lot of time learning how to do and we’re hopeful this will give it its maiden voyage,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times