man-of-war
/ˌmæn.ə(v)ˈwɔː//ˌmæn.ə(v)ˈwoɹ/
man-of-war noun: a man whose occupation is fighting in wars; a soldier, a warrior. Also the ellipsis of man-of-war bird or.
Noun
man-of-war (plural men-of-war)
- A man whose occupation is fighting in wars; a soldier, a warrior.
- The LORDE is the right man of warre, LORDE is his name. The charettes of Pharaor his power, hath he caſt in to the ſee.1535 October 14 (Gregorian calendar), Myles Coverdale, transl., Biblia: The Byble, […] (Coverdale Bible), [Cologne or Marburg]: [Eucharius Cervicornus and Johannes Soter?], →OCLC, Exodus xv:[3]...
- In an hour more, the whole house was awakened by a violent noise of howling, curses, and pots clattering to and fro. […] [T]he landlord was undermost, and the Ensign's arms were working up and down his face and body like the flaps of a paddle-wheel: the man of war had clearly the best of it.1839 May – 1840 February, Ikey Solomons, Jun. [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], “Catherine: A Story. Chapter VI. The Adventures of the Ambassador, Mr. Macshane.”, in Catherine: A Story....
- A powerful armed naval vessel, primarily one armed with cannon and propelled by sails; a warship.
- [W]e cannot be ſecure, vvhile ſuch huge Fleets of Men of VVar, both Spaniſh, French, Dutch, and Dunkirkeers, ſome of them laden vvith Ammunition, Men, Arms, and Armies, do daily ſail on our Seas, and confront the Kings Chambers; […]1633 February 8 (Gregorian calendar), James Howell, “XI. To Sir Arthur Ingram, at York.”, in Epistolæ Ho-Elianæ. Familiar Letters Domestic and Forren. […], 3rd edition, volume I, London: […] Humphrey...
- In the lobby I spoke with Mr. George Montagu, and advised about a ship to carry my Lord Hinchingbroke and the rest of the young gentlemen to France, and they have resolved of going in a hired vessell from Rye, and not in a man of war.1661 August 5 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “July 27th, 1661”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume II, London...
- In full man-of-war's-man: a sailor serving on board an armed naval vessel.
- [H]ee is firſt broken to the Sea in the Herring mans Skiffe or Cockboate, vvhere hauing learned to brooke all vvaters, and drinke as he can out of a tarrie Canne, and eate poore Iohn out of ſvvuttie platters vvhen he may get it vvithout butter or muſtard, there is no ho vvith him but once hartned...1599, [Thomas] Nashe, Nashes Lenten Stuffe, […], London: […] [Thomas Judson and Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and C[uthbert] B[urby] […], →OCLC, page 27
- A frigatebird (family Fregatidae), especially the magnificent frigatebird (Fregata magnificens).
- The Arctic skua (Stercorarius parasiticus).
Also used as
man-of-war is also the ellipsis of man-of-war bird or.
man-of-war is also the ellipsis of Portuguese man-of-war.
man-of-war meaning in Gujarati and Arabic
man-of-war in Gujarati
- powerful armed naval vessel
- મનવાર manvār
man-of-war in Arabic
- powerful armed naval vessel
- سَفِينَة حَرْبِيَّة
More languagesFewer languages
- Dhivehi
- މަނަވަރު manavaru
Examples of man-of-war in a sentence
- I like every thing man-of-war fashion, and then one's always prepared.1840, [Frederick] Marryat, “More Cry than Wool—Bramble would Dig a Pit for Another and Tumbles in along with Him”, in Poor Jack. […]...
- Historic ships launched at Pembroke were the first steam man-of-war (in 1834) and the first screw-propelled warship (in 1846).1959 October, H. A. Vallance, “The Pembroke & Tenby Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 668:
Synonyms of man-of-war
Forms of man-of-war
| plural | men-of-war |
|---|---|
| alternative form | man of war |
| alternative form | man-o-war |
| alternative form | man o' war |
| alternative form | man-o'-war |
Origin of man-of-war
From Late Middle English man of wer, man of werre (“fighting man, soldier”). It has been suggested that sense 2 (“powerful armed naval vessel”) derives from the fact that such vessels were manned by men-of-war (“soldiers”; sense 1).
Words formed from man-of-war
- man-of-war bird
- man-of-war fish
- man-of-war hawk
- man-o'-war suit
- Portuguese man-of-war
Phrases with man-of-war
Words that rhyme with man-of-war
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about man-of-war
- What does man-of-war mean?
- Man-of-war means a man whose occupation is fighting in wars; a soldier, a warrior.
- What is man-of-war in Gujarati?
- Man-of-war in Gujarati is મનવાર (manvār). See Man-of-war meaning in Gujarati.
- How do you use man-of-war in a sentence?
- I like every thing man-of-war fashion, and then one's always prepared.
- What part of speech is man-of-war?
- Man-of-war is a noun.
- How do you pronounce man-of-war?
- Man-of-war is pronounced /ˌmæn.ə(v)ˈwɔː/ (UK).
- What is the plural of man-of-war?
- The plural of man-of-war is men-of-war.
Words near man-of-war in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: man-of-war (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-man-of-war.wav, (eng)-(US)-Man-of-war.wav.
Cite this entry: “man-of-war.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/man-of-war. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.