shipmate

noun

ship·​mate ˈship-ˌmāt How to pronounce shipmate (audio)
: a fellow sailor

Examples of shipmate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Our hearts go out to the family members, loved ones, friends, and shipmates who are grieving for these two brave Americans. Ingrid Vasquez, Peoplemag, 23 Jan. 2024 More weather stations started sharing the duty of forecasting storms, and shipmates started sharing weather observations from the water. Carol Thompson The Detroit News (tns), arkansasonline.com, 27 Nov. 2023 The cork life jackets worn by many of the Bradley's shipmates simply were not effective, the Coast Guard's Marine Board of Investigation determined after reviewing the incident. Carol Thompson The Detroit News (tns), arkansasonline.com, 27 Nov. 2023 If a moment comes where they’re overpowered, their shipmates will help them out, and vice versa. Charles Solomon, New York Times, 29 Aug. 2023 In the two decades since the attack, 10 more shipmates have also died. Carol Rosenberg, New York Times, 16 Aug. 2023 Her shipmates are co-narrators, with snippets of their interviews peppered throughout her prose. Amy Brady, Scientific American, 15 Aug. 2023 Even while the ceremony was going on, the state was moving ahead with plans for a new highway and bridge, ignoring protests from residents, including descendants of the shipmates, who didn’t want to see their ancestors’ homes demolished. Nick Tabor, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 Feb. 2023 These were my thoughts after overhearing two of my shipmates discuss the smell of burning human flesh with bemused equanimity. Jackson Lears, Harper's Magazine, 9 June 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'shipmate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1748, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of shipmate was in 1748

Dictionary Entries Near shipmate

Cite this Entry

“Shipmate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shipmate. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

shipmate

noun
ship·​mate -ˌmāt How to pronounce shipmate (audio)
: a fellow sailor

More from Merriam-Webster on shipmate

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