frigate

noun frig·ate \ ˈfri-gət \

|Updated on: 13 Aug 2018

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of frigate

1 : a light boat propelled originally by oars but later by sails

2 : a square-rigged war vessel intermediate between a corvette and a ship of the line

3 : a modern warship that is smaller than a destroyer

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Recent Examples of frigate from the Web

BAE Systems, the world’s fourth-biggest defence company, won a contract to build nine Type 26 Hunter class frigates for the Australian navy.

— The Economist, "Business this week," 5 July 2018
The frigates will be built at the Osborne Naval Shipyard in South Australia state.

— rob taylor, WSJ, "Australia’s $26 Billion Warship Deal Goes to Britain’s BAE," 28 June 2018
The Sachsen class frigates are designed to intercept enemy missiles and aircraft, and are equipped with 32 Mark 41 vertical launch silos built into the bow, just in front of the bridge.

— kyle mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "A German Warship Was Scorched By Its Own Missile," 27 June 2018
Surface ships, including frigates, destroyers, cruisers, and even amphibious ships could extend their operational lifespans while at the service beefs up its total number of vessels.

— kyle mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "The US Navy Could Grow to 355 Ships by 2032," 22 June 2018
In March a British frigate sailed through part of the South China Sea where the Chinese authorities are trying to establish a sphere of influence.

— The Economist, "Britain’s Royal Navy has big ambitions—but a small budget," 31 May 2018
In addition, a French frigate is stationed off of Lebanon in international waters.

— Washington Post, "France mulls military action against Syria for gas attacks," 12 Apr. 2018
For example, Halle said, a frigate can receive food shipments periodically from a helicopter.

— frank vaisvilas, Lake County News-Sun, "From Grayslake to the North Pole: Lake County native describes service aboard submarine," 7 June 2018
Don’t give up the ship’’ during a losing battle with the British frigate Shannon in the War of 1812.

— BostonGlobe.com, "This day in history," 31 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'frigate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

In the 17th–19th centuries, a frigate was a three-masted, fully rigged sailing ship, often carrying 30–40 guns in all. Smaller and faster than ships of the line (the principal vessels of naval warfare), frigates served as scouts or as escorts protecting merchant convoys; they also cruised the seas as merchant raiders themselves. In World War II, Britain revived the term frigate using it to describe escort ships equipped with sonar and depth charges, and used these ships to guard convoys from submarines. In the postwar decades, the frigate also adopted an antiaircraft role, adding radar and surface-to-air missiles. Modern frigates can sail at a speed of 30 knots and carry a crew of 200.