warship

warship — noun

1. A large military boat that belongs to a country's navy and carries weapons such

1.nounB1
Definition

A large military boat that belongs to a country's navy and carries weapons such as guns, missiles, or torpedoes so it can fight at sea or attack targets on land.

Example

A large warship carrying guided missiles sailed into the naval port this morning.

military context: carrying guided missiles + naval port

The navy has twelve warships ready to leave at any time.

quantifier + warship (countable)

Common collocations
  • build / construct a warship
  • launch a warship
  • deploy / send a warship
  • a warship patrols
  • a warship carries (weapons / missiles / helicopters)
  • enemy warship
  • modern warship
  • surface warship
Synonyms
  • naval vessel

    More formal term; includes all ships operated by a navy (including non-combat supply ships)

  • man-of-war

    Historical term for an armed sailing ship; now rare outside museums and literature

  • fighting ship

    Less technical, often used in simplified or children's contexts

Antonyms
  • civilian ship

    Any non-military vessel such as a cargo ship, cruise liner, or fishing boat

Usage Note

Warship is a general category that includes many specific vessel types such as aircraft carriers, destroyers, frigates, and submarines. When referring to a particular class, use the specific term rather than the generic word.

Common Mistakes

The country built a war ship to protect its coast.
The country built a warship to protect its coast.
warship is written as one word, not two.
The navy owns many battleships, including aircraft carriers and submarines.
The navy owns many warships, including aircraft carriers and submarines.
battleship is only one type of warship; use warship for the general category.

Word family

  • warships
    noun (plural)B1
  • navy
    nounA2
  • naval
    adjectiveB2
  • battleship
    nounB2
  • destroyer
    nounC1
  • aircraft carrier
    nounB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Warship is the broadest everyday term for any armed military ship operated by a navy. Naval vessel is a more formal equivalent that also includes non-combat ships like hospital ships and supply tenders. Battleship refers specifically to a heavily armoured, large-gun warship used in the early-to-mid 20th century — calling a modern destroyer a 'battleship' would be inaccurate. Man-of-war is an older historical term for a sailing warship from the age of sail (16th–19th centuries) and sounds archaic today. In a news headline about a naval incident, writers usually say 'warship' or 'naval vessel'; 'battleship' only appears in historical or museum contexts.

warship ↗naval vesselman-of-warbattleship

Common collocations

Nouns

  • ~ fleet
  • ~ commander
  • ~ crew
  • ~ design
  • ~ construction
  • enemy ~
  • surface ~

Phrases

  • to build a ~
  • to launch a ~
  • to deploy a ~
  • to sink a ~
  • to patrol in a ~

Prepositions

  • aboard a ~
  • on board a ~

Etymology

Old EnglishOld FrenchEnglish

A compound word formed from 'war' and 'ship'. 'War' comes from Old English 'werre' (borrowed from Old French 'guerre'), and 'ship' comes from Old English 'scip'. The term has been used since the 15th century to distinguish military vessels from merchant ships.