Merchantman

3 definitions found

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

  Merchantman \Mer"chant*man\, n.; pl. {Merchantmen}.
     [1913 Webster]
     1. A merchant. [Obs.] --Matt. xiii. 45.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A trading vessel; a ship employed in the transportation of


        goods, as, distinguished from a man-of-war.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  merchantman
       n : a cargo ship; "they did much of their overseas trade in
           foreign bottoms" [syn: {bottom}, {freighter}, {merchant
           ship}]

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  MERCHANTMAN. A ship or vessel employed in a merchant's service. This term is 
  used in opposition to a ship of war.