Definition of "men-of-war" [men-of-war]

• Plural of man-of-war. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In practice this meant that British naval vessels stopped American vessels including men-of-war, searched them for presumed British citizens, and then pressed those men into service—to the great outrage of a nation seeking to assert itself as a full member of the international system of sovereign states."
• "The Dutch threat had intensified—their men-of-war had been spotted near Virginia as recently as March—and Lovelace remained convinced that an efficient system of correspondence was crucial to colonial defense."
• "Initially the post rider was supposed to leave on January 1, 1673, but Lovelace held him back so that he could forward to Winthrop the latest news of the Dutch approach: forty Dutch men-of-war had been spotted near the West Indies."