variants
also man-o'-war
as in steamer
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Recent Examples of man-of-war
Melville wrote two more sailing novels that blended fiction and nonfiction based on his experiences on a merchant vessel (Redburn) and a man-of-war (White-Jacket), neither of which succeeded.
—
Literary Hub, 28 Apr. 2026
Somewhere over the course of their evolution, the class of hydrozoans — which includes certain kinds of jellyfish, hydras, and colonial siphonophores such as the Portuguese man-of-war — lost the genes that operate circadian clocks in the rest of the animal kingdom.
—Marlowe Starling, Quanta Magazine, 20 Mar. 2026
Chad Ryan’s scenic design of George and Martha’s rotting-from-the-inside house is decorated with the symbols of war, like a framed sword, a model man-of-war battleship and a bust of Napoleon.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Mar. 2026
Nassau had no men-of-war ships, and Trott’s stone fort was still a building site.
—Sean Kingsley, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2024
My hundred-and-forty-foot man-of-war sought to make the first mission to the South Pole, a feat that would bring pride to England.
—Mike O’Brien, The New Yorker, 7 Nov. 2023
Its lyrics, about a sailor bidding goodbye to his lover before boarding a man-of-war bound for England, were written not by Mr. Whittaker but by a British silversmith who responded to a radio contest in which Mr. Whittaker invited listeners to send in verses, with the best put to music.
—Harrison Smith, Washington Post, 19 Sep. 2023
Just as airpower eventually killed off the great men-of-war that had ruled the waves for millennia, so cyberweapons might strip other weapons or tactics of their utility.
—Kenneth M. Pollack, Foreign Affairs, 19 Apr. 2022
Literary Hub, 28 Apr. 2026
Somewhere over the course of their evolution, the class of hydrozoans — which includes certain kinds of jellyfish, hydras, and colonial siphonophores such as the Portuguese man-of-war — lost the genes that operate circadian clocks in the rest of the animal kingdom.
—Marlowe Starling, Quanta Magazine, 20 Mar. 2026
Chad Ryan’s scenic design of George and Martha’s rotting-from-the-inside house is decorated with the symbols of war, like a framed sword, a model man-of-war battleship and a bust of Napoleon.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Mar. 2026
Nassau had no men-of-war ships, and Trott’s stone fort was still a building site.
—Sean Kingsley, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2024
My hundred-and-forty-foot man-of-war sought to make the first mission to the South Pole, a feat that would bring pride to England.
—Mike O’Brien, The New Yorker, 7 Nov. 2023
Its lyrics, about a sailor bidding goodbye to his lover before boarding a man-of-war bound for England, were written not by Mr. Whittaker but by a British silversmith who responded to a radio contest in which Mr. Whittaker invited listeners to send in verses, with the best put to music.
—Harrison Smith, Washington Post, 19 Sep. 2023
Just as airpower eventually killed off the great men-of-war that had ruled the waves for millennia, so cyberweapons might strip other weapons or tactics of their utility.
—Kenneth M. Pollack, Foreign Affairs, 19 Apr. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for man-of-war
Noun
-
Steam Wrinkles Out of Upholstery and Curtains When filled with water and set to a steam setting, an iron can easily double as a steamer.—
Ashley Chalmers,
The Spruce,
23 Apr. 2026
-
There the steamer has remained and become a home for marine life.—
Betsy Cribb Watson,
Southern Living,
19 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
These preyed upon American merchantmen who either payed tribute or showed forged British passes.—
Thomas Wendel,
National Review,
4 July 2019
-
The Navy already has ships in the fleet that are former merchantmen.—
Kyle Mizokami,
Popular Mechanics,
10 Jan. 2019
Noun
-
General Dynamics Bath Iron Works stated on April 28 that the warship had departed its Maine shipyard and entered open waters to undergo performance testing.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Apr. 2026
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That warship, an expeditionary sea base, is about the size of an aircraft carrier and can support helicopters and special forces.—
Brad Lendon,
CNN Money,
22 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Scheidt’s family were members of the German-Jewish bourgeoisie (a distant cousin, Albert Ballin, was general director of what became the world’s largest steamship line).—
Andrew Silow-Carroll,
Sun Sentinel,
28 Apr. 2026
-
That’s what was being asked — for days — after the White Star Line’s famous steamship Titanic hit an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic Ocean.—
Kori Rumore,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The largest piece of hardware for NASA’s Artemis III mission arrived at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on Monday after a trip by barge from its factory in New Orleans, Florida Today reports.—
Stephen Clark,
ArsTechnica,
1 May 2026
-
The barge is now expected to go around the northern tip of Denmark via the strait of Skagerrak toward the North Sea.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The Russian freighter, known as Progress 95, is hauling about 3 tons of food, propellant and other supplies to the International Space Station (ISS).—
Mike Wall,
Space.com,
25 Apr. 2026
-
Operating six weekly flights with a dedicated FedEx Boeing 777 freighter, shipments from Vietnam are consolidated in Ho Chi Minh City before being transported to Singapore for a direct flight to Anchorage.—
Glenn Taylor,
Footwear News,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The country also retains significant tanker capacity — equivalent to roughly 37 very large crude carriers — both inside and outside the blockade.—
Anthony Di Paola,
Fortune,
2 May 2026
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The tanker that is the NFL Draft isn’t about be turned around on the small matter of perspective.—
Jerry McDonald,
Mercury News,
1 May 2026
Noun
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The ferryboat was on the go all day long, covering more miles in a day than the barge would cover in a century.—
Eric DuVall,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
17 Sep. 2025
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One foggy morning this spring, a ferryboat traversed the choppy waters between lower Manhattan and Governors Island.—
Adam Iscoe,
New Yorker,
4 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Man-of-war.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/man-of-war. Accessed 5 May. 2026.
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