1
: a warship ranking in the old sailing navies next below a frigate
2
: a highly maneuverable armed escort ship that is smaller than a destroyer
Examples of corvette in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The apparent casualties suffered by the escorting corvettes reinforces the danger Ukraine’s kamikaze boat fleet poses, despite the high attrition rate to defensive fire.
—
Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 3 Aug. 2023
Navy cadets pass a Tuo River missile corvette, 2015.
—Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 21 Aug. 2023
At sea, the Swedish Navy operates five small Visby-class stealth corvettes with anti-submarine armament and RBS-15 Mk.2 anti-ship missiles (range of 43 miles).
—Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 3 Sep. 2023
Taiwan is building 12 Tuo River-class corvette catamarans, each equipped with eight Hsiung Feng II subsonic and eight Hsiung Feng III supersonic anti-ship missiles.
—Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 21 Aug. 2023
That may, in turn, compel Russia’s Navy to more systematically commit its corvette force to escort Russian shipping—at least, until a new Black Sea Grain Initiative agreement is reached.
—Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 3 Aug. 2023
Many of China’s coast guard vessels are former navy corvettes, capable of long-endurance operations and equipped with helicopter pads, powerful water cannons and guns the same caliber as those on an M1 Abrams tank.
—Damien Cave, New York Times, 12 June 2023
The exercises involve three corvette warships tasked with locating and destroying a mock enemy submarine with the assistance of helicopters in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea.
—Josh Pennington, CNN, 13 Apr. 2023
The new vessels included a corvette, a minesweeper and the nuclear submarine Generalissimus Suvorov.
—Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY, 30 Dec. 2022
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Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 3 Aug. 2023
Navy cadets pass a Tuo River missile corvette, 2015.
—Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 21 Aug. 2023
At sea, the Swedish Navy operates five small Visby-class stealth corvettes with anti-submarine armament and RBS-15 Mk.2 anti-ship missiles (range of 43 miles).
—Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 3 Sep. 2023
Taiwan is building 12 Tuo River-class corvette catamarans, each equipped with eight Hsiung Feng II subsonic and eight Hsiung Feng III supersonic anti-ship missiles.
—Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 21 Aug. 2023
That may, in turn, compel Russia’s Navy to more systematically commit its corvette force to escort Russian shipping—at least, until a new Black Sea Grain Initiative agreement is reached.
—Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 3 Aug. 2023
Many of China’s coast guard vessels are former navy corvettes, capable of long-endurance operations and equipped with helicopter pads, powerful water cannons and guns the same caliber as those on an M1 Abrams tank.
—Damien Cave, New York Times, 12 June 2023
The exercises involve three corvette warships tasked with locating and destroying a mock enemy submarine with the assistance of helicopters in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea.
—Josh Pennington, CNN, 13 Apr. 2023
The new vessels included a corvette, a minesweeper and the nuclear submarine Generalissimus Suvorov.
—Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY, 30 Dec. 2022
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'corvette.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Corvette.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/corvette. Accessed 9 Dec. 2023.
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Kids Definition
corvette
noun
cor·vette
kȯr-ˈvet 
1
: an armed naval sailing ship
2
: an armed escort ship that is small and fast
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