Word.ws English Dictionary

mother ships

mother ships is the plural of mother ship.

Meaning of mother ship

Noun

mother ship (plural mother ships)

  1. A vessel, aircraft or spacecraft that serves or carries a smaller vessel or vessels that operate independently from it.
  2. (broadly) The main source or supporter of something.
    • “Tragically the mothership of terrorism is a country in India’s neighbourhood,” Modi told a gathering in India of the heads of governments of the Brics countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.2016 October 16, Jon Boone, “Narendra Modi labels Pakistan 'mothership of terrorism'”, in The Guardian
  3. The largest vessel in a fleet of spaceships, from which the fleet is commanded and smaller spacecraft can be launched.
    • One Tuesday evening early in October, 1960, he and his wife believed they say hovering near their home five or six flying saucers and their mother ship.1965, James Holledge, Flying Saucers Over Australia, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 77
  4. (broadly) The largest and most fearsome example of something.
    • SDCC is the mothership of all cons. It's enormous. It has the best stars.2015 May 12, Sam Maggs, The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy: A Handbook for Girl Geeks, Quirk Books, →ISBN, page 114

Questions about mother ships

What is mother ships the plural of?
Mother ships is the plural of mother ship.

Words near mother ships in the dictionary

  1. mother plants
  2. Mother Russia
  3. mother sauce
  4. mother sauces
  5. mother ship
  6. mother ships
  7. mother superior
  8. mother superiors
  9. Mother Teresa
  10. Mother Teresas
  11. Mother Theresa

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: mother ships (page history and authors); mother ship (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.

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