merchantman

3 definitions found

merchantman - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Merchantman \Mer"chant*man\, n.; pl. Merchantmen.
     [1913 Webster]
     1. A merchant. [Obs.] --Matt. xiii. 45.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A trading vessel; a ship employed in the transportation of
        goods, as, distinguished from a man-of-war.
        [1913 Webster]

merchantman - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  merchantman
      n 1: a cargo ship; "they did much of their overseas trade in
           foreign bottoms" [syn: bottom, freighter,
           merchantman, merchant ship]

merchantman - Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) :

  MERCHANTMAN. A ship or vessel employed in a merchant's service. This term is 
  used in opposition to a ship of war.