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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
Reuters 22 Min Ago, CNN Money, 31 Aug. 2025
In this photo taken from a video distributed by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on October 7, 2020, a Zircon hypersonic cruise missile is launched from the frigate Admiral Groshkov in the White Sea, north of Russia.
—Ellie Cook, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2025
Returns after 28 years The Kalibr has been used extensively in Ukraine, while the Zircon has only been declared operational aboard Admiral Gorshkov-class frigates.
—Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 20 Aug. 2025
The agreement, the biggest of its kind in the countries’ history, involves the sale of 11 stealth frigates able to launch long-range missiles, significantly expanding Australia’s maritime defense capabilities.
—Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 7 Aug. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Frigate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frigate. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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frigate
noun
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