gunboat

[ guhn-boht ]
See synonyms for gunboat on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a small, armed warship of light draft, used in ports where the water is shallow.

  2. any small ship carrying mounted guns.

Origin of gunboat

1
First recorded in 1770–80; gun1 + boat

Words Nearby gunboat

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use gunboat in a sentence

  • The rebels wished to advance from Lutao, but were kept back by the fire from the gunboat Maria Cristina.

    The Philippine Islands | John Foreman
  • Meanwhile, the Australian submarine has got up through the Narrows and has torpedoed a gunboat at Chunuk.

  • Subsequently a gunboat was sent to San Fernando de la Union to shell the town.

    The Philippine Islands | John Foreman
  • On that date the American gunboat Petrel and a large steam-launch suddenly appeared in Cebú harbour.

    The Philippine Islands | John Foreman
  • In January, 1899, a Spanish gunboat silently entered the port without the customary whistling and firing of salute.

    The Philippine Islands | John Foreman

British Dictionary definitions for gunboat

gunboat

/ (ˈɡʌnˌbəʊt) /


noun
  1. a small shallow-draft vessel carrying mounted guns and used by coastal patrols, etc

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012