dreadnought

or dread·naught

[ dred-nawt ]

noun

1. a type of battleship armed with heavy-caliber guns in turrets: so called from the British battleship Dreadnought, launched in 1906, the first of its type.
2. an outer garment of heavy woolen cloth.
3. a thick cloth with a long pile.

dreadnought

/ ˈdrɛdˌnɔːt /

noun

1. a battleship armed with heavy guns of uniform calibre
2. an overcoat made of heavy cloth
3. slang.
   a heavyweight boxer
4. a person who fears nothing

Word History and Origins

Origin of dreadnought¹

First recorded in 1800–10; dread + nought

Example Sentences

The England captain is the subject of a 25-feet high mural on Whitehall Street, opposite the great, gunmetal dreadnought of the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.

From BBC

Musk has long espoused the benefits of factory automation to produce high volumes of vehicles, even referring to his ideal, AI-laden, robot-powered factory as the “alien dreadnought.”

From Los Angeles Times

Think of the right wing mediasphere as the Star Wars equivalent of the Imperial armada – it's a dreadnought, towing along all the smaller ships like OAN and Newsmax, destroyers and all.

From Salon

The manufacturing breakdown that snarled Model 3 output came after Musk tried to robotize its Fremont, Calif., factory to the point where it would resemble an “alien dreadnought.”

From Los Angeles Times

The Tiffany diamond, a 128.54-carat dreadnought that Lady Gaga wore to the Academy Awards last year, was somewhere else.

From New York Times

Related Words

• battleship
• corvette
• cutter
• destroyer
• frigate
• gunboat
• submarine