fireship

See also: fire ship

English

Etymology

From fire +‎ ship.

Pronunciation
  • Audio (AU)(file)

Noun

fireship (plural fireships)

  1. (nautical) A sailing ship that has been set alight and left to drift into an opposing fleet. Famously used by Englishman Sir Francis Drake when fighting the Spanish Armada of 1588.
    • 1984, Witold Rodzinksi, The Walled Kingdom: A History of China from 2000 BC to the Present‎, London: Fontana Paperbacks, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 69:
      His attempt in 208 to cross the Yangtse was frustrated in the famous battle of Ch'ih-pi, in which his immense fleet was destroyed by his enemies' fireships, and most of his army slain.
  2. (vulgar, slang) A diseased prostitute.

Hyponyms

(boat ablaze):

See also

(boat ablaze):

(prostitute):

References
  • Depraved and Insulting English – Peter Novobatsky & Ammon Shea →ISBN
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