man-of-war

variants also man-o'-war

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of man-of-war Nassau had no men-of-war ships, and Trott’s stone fort was still a building site. Sean Kingsley, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2024 My hundred-and-forty-foot man-of-war sought to make the first mission to the South Pole, a feat that would bring pride to England. Mike O’Brien, The New Yorker, 7 Nov. 2023 Its lyrics, about a sailor bidding goodbye to his lover before boarding a man-of-war bound for England, were written not by Mr. Whittaker but by a British silversmith who responded to a radio contest in which Mr. Whittaker invited listeners to send in verses, with the best put to music. Harrison Smith, Washington Post, 19 Sep. 2023 Just as airpower eventually killed off the great men-of-war that had ruled the waves for millennia, so cyberweapons might strip other weapons or tactics of their utility. Kenneth M. Pollack, Foreign Affairs, 19 Apr. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for man-of-war
Noun
  • This 17-piece set includes eight pots and pans in varying sizes, along with their matching lids, as well as a steamer insert.
    Dena Ogden, Southern Living, 7 Oct. 2025
  • The novel opens as the teenage Karl Rossmann, whose parents shipped him off to America for fathering a child when he was seduced by the family’s thirty-five-year-old cook, arrives on a steamer in New York harbor and sees the Statue of Liberty holding not the emblematic torch but rather a sword.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • The force unveiled its most advanced warship, its first-ever destroyer, the Choe Hyon, in April.
    Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025
  • Seoul, South Korea — A Japanese warship is on the way to the United States to be fitted with Tomahawk cruise missiles, the latest move by Washington and its Asian allies to beef up firepower as adversaries like China and North Korea expand theirs.
    Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • These preyed upon American merchantmen who either payed tribute or showed forged British passes.
    Thomas Wendel, National Review, 4 July 2019
  • The Navy already has ships in the fleet that are former merchantmen.
    Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 10 Jan. 2019
Noun
  • This is my mother’s story that cannot be deleted, this is her legit experiences on steamship of American democracy.
    Kevin Powell, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Oct. 2025
  • The 410-foot-long, 72-year-old ship offers the largest cross-lake passenger service on the Great Lakes and an authentic steamship experience, its website says.
    Jalen Williams, Freep.com, 6 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Mules on the towpath along the canal could pull a heavy barge at a clip of 4 miles per hour – far faster than the job of dragging wagons over primitive roads.
    Christine Keiner, The Conversation, 15 Oct. 2025
  • Much of the barge remains above water, albeit at a precarious angle.
    Heather Richardson, Travel + Leisure, 11 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Running a day late, Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL cargo freighter pulled alongside the International Space Station on Thursday, delivering more than 5 tons of supplies and experiments to the lab's seven-person crew.
    Scharon Harding, ArsTechnica, 18 Sep. 2025
  • The Cygnus team overcame that problem, however, and got the freighter on track for a one-day-late rendezvous.
    Mike Wall, Space.com, 18 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • However, a direct trip to Mars would require vast amounts of fuel, so SpaceX plans to use in-orbit refueling, where multiple tanker Starships transfer propellant to a main vehicle before departure.
    Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 15 Oct. 2025
  • Recently, Finnish special forces seized a Russian shadow tanker and investigated whether it had been involved in cutting undersea cables.
    James Stavridis, Twin Cities, 13 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • The ferryboat was on the go all day long, covering more miles in a day than the barge would cover in a century.
    Eric DuVall, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Sep. 2025
  • One foggy morning this spring, a ferryboat traversed the choppy waters between lower Manhattan and Governors Island.
    Adam Iscoe, New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Man-of-war.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/man-of-war. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.

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