Man-of-war

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Man-of-war \Man`-of-war"\, n; pl. {Men-of-war}.
     1. A government vessel employed for the purposes of war, esp.
        one of large size; a ship of war. [WordNet sense 1]
  
     Syn: ship of the line.
          [1913 Webster]


  
     2. The {Portuguese man-of-war}.
  
     Syn: Syn. --, jellyfish.
          [WordNet 1.5]
  
     {Man-of-war hawk} (Zool.), the frigate bird.
  
     {Man-of-war's man}, a sailor serving in a ship of war.
  
     {Portuguese man-of-war} (Zool.), any species of the genus
        {Physalia}; it is a hydrozoan having both medusa and polyp
        stages present in a single colony. It floats on the
        surface of the sea by a buoyant bladderlike structure,
        from which dangle multiple long tentacles with stinging
        cells. Its can cause severe rashes when it comes in
        contact with humans swimming in the area. See {Physalia}.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  man-of-war
       n 1: a warship intended for combat [syn: {ship of the line}]
       2: large siphonophore having a bladderlike float and stinging
          tentacles [syn: {Portuguese man-of-war}, {jellyfish}]
       [also: {men-of-war} (pl), {men-o'-war} (pl)]