A government vessel employed for the purposes of war, esp. one of large size; a ship of war.
Synonyms:ship of the line.
2.
The Portuguese man-of-war.
Synonyms:, jellyfish.
Man-of-war hawk (Zool.), the frigate bird.
Man-of-war's man, a sailor serving in a ship of war.
Portuguese man-of-war (Zool.), any species of the genus Physalia; it is a hydrozoan having both medusa and polyp stages present in a single colony. It floats on the surface of the sea by a buoyant bladderlike structure, from which dangle multiple long tentacles with stinging cells. Its can cause severe rashes when it comes in contact with humans swimming in the area. See Physalia.
... last letter I think I mentioned to you that I had worked out and sent home to the President of the Linnean Society, through Captain Stanley, an account of Physalia, or Portuguese man-of-war as it is called, an animal whose structure and affinities had never been worked out. The careful investigation I made gave rise to several new ideas covering the whole class of animals to which this creature belongs, and these ideas I have had the good fortune ... — The Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley Volume 1 • Leonard Huxley
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