Definition of "vessel" []

• A hollow utensil, such as a cup, vase, or pitcher, used as a container, especially for liquids. (noun)
• Nautical A craft, especially one larger than a rowboat, designed to navigate on water. (noun)
• An airship. (noun)
• Anatomy A duct, canal, or other tube that contains or conveys a body fluid: a blood vessel. (noun)
• Botany One of the tubular conductive structures of xylem, consisting of dead cylindrical cells that are attached end to end and connected by perforations. They are found in nearly all flowering plants. (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.

• "It may be necessary to explain to the uninitiated reader that the terms "he" and "she" are indifferently used at sea, in reference to craft, but when the masculine pronoun is applied it is understood to refer more especially to the _commanding officer_ of the vessel; while the pronoun "she" refers to the _vessel herself_."
• "In "Container Ship," the title vessel drifts out of the mist: "I wonder if it has a dance band," Mr. Felice asks."
• "Such a vessel is our Huntress, built at your Cousin Martin's instigation and launched at the moment when our fortunes were at their lowest ebb."