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man-of-war

American  
[man-uhv-wawr] / ˈmæn əvˈwɔr /

noun

men-of-war plural
  1. a warship.

  2. Portuguese man-of-war.


man-of-war British  

noun

  1. a warship

  2. See Portuguese man-of-war

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of man-of-war

1400–50 in sense “soldier”; late Middle English

Vocabulary lists containing man-of-war

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

This keeps them close to their prey, including the famously venomous Portuguese man-of-war.

From National Geographic • Feb. 7, 2024

By-the-wind-sailors are related to jellyfish and the Portuguese man-of-war, which can produce a painful sting, but their tentacles are mostly harmless, Pernet said.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2023

A: Although Portuguese man-of-war look like jellyfish, they are technically classified as Physalia.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 10, 2022

A news story of the day claimed that on the way to Nassau, Bonnet was involved in a fight with a Spanish man-of-war and his ship was damaged and Bonnet seriously wounded.

From Salon • May 21, 2022

Slash was stationed on a man-of-war, on the cannon deck.

From I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 by Lauren Tarshis

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