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when one's ship comes in

 - 3 dictionary results

ship

  [ship] noun, verb, shipped, ship⋅ping.
Use when one's ship comes in in a Sentence
–noun
1. a vessel, esp. a large oceangoing one propelled by sails or engines.
2. Nautical.
a. a sailing vessel square-rigged on all of three or more masts, having jibs, staysails, and a spanker on the aftermost mast.
b. Now Rare. a bark having more than three masts. Compare shipentine.
3. the crew and, sometimes, the passengers of a vessel: The captain gave the ship shore leave.
4. an airship, airplane, or spacecraft.
–verb (used with object)
5. to put or take on board a ship or other means of transportation; to send or transport by ship, rail, truck, plane, etc.
6. Nautical. to take in (water) over the side, as a vessel does when waves break over it.
7. to bring (an object) into a ship or boat.
8. to engage (someone) for service on a ship.
9. to fix in a ship or boat in the proper place for use.
10. to place (an oar) in proper position for rowing. Compare boat (def. 10).
11. to send away: They shipped the kids off to camp for the summer.
–verb (used without object)
12. to go on board or travel by ship; embark.
13. to engage to serve on a ship.
—Verb phrase
14. ship out,
a. to leave, esp. for another country or assignment: He said goodby to his family and shipped out for the West Indies.
b. to send away, esp. to another country or assignment.
c. Informal. to quit, resign, or be fired from a job: Shape up or ship out!
—Idioms
15. jump ship,
a. to escape from a ship, esp. one in foreign waters or a foreign port, as to avoid further service as a sailor or to request political asylum.
b. to withdraw support or membership from a group, organization, cause, etc.; defect or desert: Some of the more liberal members have jumped ship.
16. run a tight ship, to exercise a close, strict control over a ship's crew, a company, organization, or the like.
17. when one's ship comes in or home, when one's fortune is assured: She'll buy a car as soon as her ship comes in.
Origin:
bef. 900; (n.) ME; OE scip; c. D schip, G Schiff, ON, Goth skip; (v.) ME s(c)hip(p)en, deriv. of the n.

Related forms:
shipless, adjective
ship⋅less⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

ship  (v.)
c.1300, "to send or transport by ship," from ship (n.). Transf. to other means of conveyance (railroad, etc.) from 1857, originally Amer.Eng. Shipment "that which is shipped" is from 1861.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

when one's ship comes in

When one has made one's fortune, as in When my ship comes in I'll get a Mercedes or better. This term alludes to ships returning from far-off places with a cargo of valuables. It may be obsolescent. [Mid-1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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