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In the 17th–19th centuries, a frigate was a three-masted, fully rigged sailing ship, often carrying 30–40 guns in all. Smaller and faster than ships of the line (the principal vessels of naval warfare), frigates served as scouts or as escorts protecting merchant convoys; they also cruised the seas as merchant raiders themselves. In World War II, Britain revived the term frigate using it to describe escort ships equipped with sonar and depth charges, and used these ships to guard convoys from submarines. In the postwar decades, the frigate also adopted an antiaircraft role, adding radar and surface-to-air missiles. Modern frigates can sail at a speed of 30 knots and carry a crew of 200.
Examples of frigate in a Sentence
Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 June 2025
As a result, the surface of the land and sea is an open book that anyone with an internet connection can read to the point where the embarrassing launch failure of a North Korean frigate is instantly world news instead of a vague rumor.
—David Szondy
may 31, New Atlas, 31 May 2025
The Netherlands quickly followed suit, launching its first one from one of its naval frigates this March.
—Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 1 May 2025
The Princess of Wales, 43, was appointed as the sponsor of the anti-submarine frigate in June 2021.
—Ryan Brennan, Miami Herald, 26 May 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Frigate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frigate. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.
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frigate
noun
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