: a German submarine

Examples of U-boat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Winston Churchill said the U-boat peril was the only thing that really frightened him during World War II. Carl Burdette, Baltimore Sun, 22 June 2025 The first U-boat to enter the Gulf was U-507, which cruised into the area on April 30, 1942. Asia London Palomba, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 June 2025 In this case, Larson takes us inside the lives and thinking of several of the Lusitania’s passengers and crew, the men on the German U-boat that sunk the Lusitania, plus government officials in the U.S., England and Germany. The Know, Denver Post, 30 Apr. 2025 But their ship was torpedoed by a Nazi U-boat, and the frigid waters of the North Atlantic became a grave. Filip Timotija, The Hill, 28 Mar. 2025 One U-boat could sink a ship, sure—but a single sub could also be hunted down and destroyed just as easily. Scott Travers, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2025 Now, the only way to convince a U-boat commander to surface was to deliberately take a torpedo strike and play dead. Sean Kingsley, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Feb. 2025 An adaptation of the 1973 German novel, the film follows a U-boat crew during the Battle of the Atlantic and went on to be nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Director for Petersen. Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 2 Feb. 2025 Vessels discovered in the area include a War of 1812 privateer, boats sunk by German submarines during World War II and an actual German U-boat sunk by Allied forces, the federal agency said. Michael Loria, USA TODAY, 31 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

translation of German U-boot, short for Unterseeboot, literally, undersea boat

First Known Use

1914, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of U-boat was in 1914

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“U-boat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/U-boat. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.

Kids Definition

U-boat

noun
ˈyü-ˈbōt
: a German submarine

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