CRUISER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does cruiser mean? 

• CRUISER (noun)
  The noun CRUISER has 3 senses:

1. a car in which policemen cruise the streets; equipped with radiotelephonic communications to headquarters

2. a large fast warship; smaller than a battleship and larger than a destroyer

3. a large motorboat that has a cabin and plumbing and other conveniences necessary for living on board

  Familiarity information: CRUISER used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CRUISER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A car in which policemen cruise the streets; equipped with radiotelephonic communications to headquarters

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

cruiser; patrol car; police car; police cruiser; prowl car; squad car

Hypernyms ("cruiser" is a kind of...):

auto; automobile; car; machine; motorcar (a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cruiser"):

panda car (a police cruiser)

Derivation:

cruise (travel at a moderate speed)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A large fast warship; smaller than a battleship and larger than a destroyer

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("cruiser" is a kind of...):

combat ship; war vessel; warship (a government ship that is available for waging war)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cruiser"):

battle cruiser (a cruiser of maximum speed and firepower)

guided missile cruiser (a cruiser that carries guided missiles)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A large motorboat that has a cabin and plumbing and other conveniences necessary for living on board

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

cabin cruiser; cruiser; pleasure boat; pleasure craft

Hypernyms ("cruiser" is a kind of...):

motorboat; powerboat (a boat propelled by an internal-combustion engine)

Derivation:

cruise (sail or travel about for pleasure, relaxation, or sightseeing)

 Context examples 

“What the cruiser gets the cruiser earns,” cried a frigate captain.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A Russian could mean but one thing—a cruiser.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

It would brighten my declining years to see a German cruiser navigating the Solent according to the mine-field plans which I have furnished.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You speak as if a cruiser had nothing to do but take prizes.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Now are we indeed saved. There must be men and cruisers to protect them from the seal-hunters. Possibly there is a station ashore.”

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Your admiral may find the new guns rather larger than he expects, and the cruisers perhaps a trifle faster.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I have had to avoid the enemy’s battleships and to fight his cruisers.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Late in the afternoon I sighted a steamer’s smoke on the horizon to leeward, and I knew it either for a Russian cruiser, or, more likely, the Macedonia still seeking the Ghost.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

If he talks of a radiator it is a battleship, of an oil pump a cruiser, and so on.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Every good cruiser can fill her complement quickly enough.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)