fireship

See also: fire ship

English

Etymology

From fire +‎ ship.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

fireship (plural fireships)

1. (nautical) A sailing ship that has been set alight and left to drift into an opposing fleet. Famously used by Englishman Sir Francis Drake when fighting the Spanish Armada of 1588.
   • 1984, Witold Rodzinksi, The Walled Kingdom: A History of China from 2000 BC to the Present‎^[1], London: Fontana Paperbacks, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 69:

     His attempt in 208 to cross the Yangtse was frustrated in the famous battle of Ch'ih-pi, in which his immense fleet was destroyed by his enemies' fireships, and most of his army slain.

2. (vulgar, slang) A diseased prostitute.

Hyponyms

(boat ablaze):

• hellburner

See also

(boat ablaze):

• fireboat

(prostitute):

• frenchified
• venereal disease

References

• Depraved and Insulting English – Peter Novobatsky & Ammon Shea →ISBN