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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.
Examples of frigate in a Sentence
Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Aug. 2025
The frigate sale to Australia dwarfs that missile deal.
—Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 11 Aug. 2025
The warships, which are equipped for undersea warfare and air defence, will replace Australia’s Anzac-class frigates.
—Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 4 Aug. 2025
Built in 1749 in Chichester, England, the ship was originally known as the HMS Hind, a 24-gun frigate that served in the British Royal Navy.
—Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 July 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Frigate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frigate. Accessed 31 Aug. 2025.
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frigate
noun
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