gunboat

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a relatively small warship armed with one or more mounted guns, often designed for coastal or river operations

   The gunboat patrolled the shallow river near the fortified port.

Common collocations

• gunboat diplomacy Noun + noun

Formed in English from gun + boat. The term became common for small, heavily armed vessels used in coastal and river warfare; their use to pressure weaker states also produced the phrase gunboat diplomacy.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images