gunboat

«gunboat» in Mova's school dictionary: A small warship with big guns, used especially on rivers… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (a gunboat, gunboats)

meaning for a pupil

1) A small warship with big guns, used especially on rivers or near the coast. tree →

2) «Gunboat diplomacy» means a strong country forcing weaker ones to agree by threatening to use its navy or army. tree →

sense in the lessons

In history lessons about the British Empire and the 1800s, gunboats patrolled rivers in China and Africa, and «gunboat diplomacy» describes bullying by powerful countries.

examples

• A gunboat sailed up the river. tree →
• The navy sent two gunboats to guard the harbour. tree →
• The gunboat's guns pointed at the shore. tree →
• Historians call this «gunboat diplomacy». tree →
• Gunboats were used in the Opium Wars in China. tree →
• The model gunboat had tiny cannons. tree →

note

Countable; one word.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «gunboat» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.