Meaning of fireship | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A wooden ship set alight and then sent floating into an enemy flotilla, with the aim of spreading the fire among them.
   historical
2. A diseased prostitute.
   slang, vulgar

Equivalents

Examples

“Fireships were famously used by Sir Francis Drake when fighting the Spanish Armada of 1588.”

“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.”

CEFR level