: a German submarine

Examples of U-boat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Faster is vital, because in their watery graves, the many land and naval mines, U-boat torpedoes, depth charges, artillery shells, chemical weapons, aerial bombs, and incendiary devices have corroded over almost 80 years. Paul Hockenos, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Sep. 2024 To identify the wreck’s location, Lost In Waters Deep and Buchan Divers, two organizations that work to identify Scottish shipwrecks, initially gathered evidence such as the logbooks from the German U-boat that fired the torpedo and ships in the area that survived the strike. Issy Ronald, CNN, 16 Aug. 2024 At the time it was launched, the ship was the world’s largest passenger liner until it was sunk by a German U-boat in 1915. Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 12 Aug. 2024 The Halsey was taking fuel oil and gasoline from Texas to New York when it was struck by a torpedo fired from a Nazi U-boat on May 6, 1942, according to Fishing Status. David Matthews, New York Daily News, 13 May 2024 Law plays a recently out-of-work captain who puts together a crew of suspicious misfits to salvage a lost cargo of gold from a sunken German U-boat. Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 18 Jan. 2024 One idea was to send the art to Canada, but that plan was turned down due to concerns over U-boat attacks during transportation. Julia Binswanger, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 May 2024 The object of the mission is to infiltrate the Spanish port of Fernando Po, off West Africa, destroy the German attack boats and sink the Duchessa, the Italian ship carrying supplies and equipment vital to U-boat operations. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Apr. 2024 Take down the biggest Nazi U-boat undetected within a designated timeframe. The Arizona Republic, 16 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

translation of German U-boot, short for Unterseeboot, literally, undersea boat

First Known Use

1914, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of U-boat was in 1914

Dictionary Entries Near U-boat

Cite this Entry

“U-boat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/U-boat. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

U-boat

noun
ˈyü-ˈbōt
: a German submarine

More from Merriam-Webster on U-boat

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!