battleship

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a large, heavily armored warship armed with powerful guns, especially a twentieth-century capital ship

   The battleship opened fire on targets along the coast.

2. 2
   noun

   in science fiction, a heavily armed starship serving a comparable combat role

   The rebel fleet could not match the enemy battleship's firepower.

A compound of battle + ship, shortened from line-of-battle ship. The shorter term is recorded from 1794 and later came to denote the heavily armored, big-gun capital ships that dominated naval planning before aircraft carriers and guided missiles displaced them.

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