maiden voyage


noun
  1. the first voyage of a ship after its acceptance by the owners from the builders.

Origin of maiden voyage

1
First recorded in 1900–05

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

How to use maiden voyage in a sentence

  • People might be surprised that during that period “maiden voyage,” one of your most well-loved standards, began as a TV jingle.

    Herbie Hancock Holds Forth | David Yaffe | November 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • To some passengers a maiden voyage was a pleasure cruise; to others it meant a hope for new life.

    The Star Lord | Boyd Ellanby
  • His maiden voyage as skipper of his own ship made that reputation for the man.

    The Sea Bride | Ben Ames Williams
  • He had had his fair fraction in the form of a crowd of enthusiastic friends who came to see him off on his maiden voyage.

    Little Miss Grouch | Samuel Hopkins Adams
  • THE ship's company was of a character befitting the greatest of all vessels and worthy of the occasion of her maiden voyage.

  • He has made it a custom to be a passenger on the maiden voyage of every new ship built by the White Star Line.

British Dictionary definitions for maiden voyage

maiden voyage

noun
  1. nautical the first voyage of a vessel

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with maiden voyage

maiden voyage

The first experience, as in This tennis tournament is my maiden voyage in statewide competition. This term, originally meaning the first voyage of a ship, was first recorded in 1901, but the use of maiden to signify “the first time” dates from the mid-1500s.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.