corvette

[ kawr-vet ]
/ kɔrˈvɛt /

noun

a warship of the old sailing class, having a flush deck and usually one tier of guns.
a lightly armed, fast ship used mostly for convoy escort and ranging in size between a destroyer and a gunboat.
Also cor·vet [kawr-vet, kawr-vet] /kɔrˈvɛt, ˈkɔr vɛt/.

Origin of corvette

1630–40; < French, Middle French < Middle Dutch corver pursuit boat (derivative of corf fishing boat, literally, basket), with suffix altered to -ette -ette

Example sentences from the Web for corvette

British Dictionary definitions for corvette

corvette
/ (kɔːˈvɛt) /

noun

a lightly armed escort warship

Word Origin for corvette

C17: from Old French, perhaps from Middle Dutch corf basket, small ship, from Latin corbis basket