ships of the line
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Men-of-war large enough to have a place in a line of battle. The ship of the desert. The camel.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “ships of the line” mean?
Men-of-war large enough to have a place in a line of battle. The ship of the desert. The camel.
Is “ships of the line” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.