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.
Examples of frigate in a Sentence
ABC News, 25 Apr. 2026
That’s exactly what happened, according to a report by The Register, where a Dutch journalist mailed a postcard with a tracker embedded in it to the HNLMS Evertsen, an air defense frigate on maneuvers escorting the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.
—Alan Henry, PC Magazine, 24 Apr. 2026
During Arctic Dolphin, a multinational NATO force of frigates, helicopters and patrol aircraft scoured the Norwegian Sea in pursuit of two submarines — one Norwegian, one German — posing as adversaries.
—Alan Crawford, Bloomberg, 20 Apr. 2026
Japan agreed on April 18 on a deal to provide Australia's navy with the first of almost a dozen stealth frigates, part of a wider military build up by Canberra aimed at boosting its long-range firepower to deter China.
—Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 20 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for frigate
Cite this Entry
“Frigate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frigate. Accessed 28 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
frigate
noun
