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# gunboat

«gunboat» in Mova's school dictionary: **A small warship with big guns, used especially on rivers…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a gunboat, gunboats)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A small warship with big guns, used especially on rivers or near the coast. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gunboat/#m1)

2) «Gunboat diplomacy» means a strong country forcing weaker ones to agree by threatening to use its navy or army. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gunboat/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In history lessons about the British Empire and the 1800s, gunboats patrolled rivers in China and Africa, and «gunboat diplomacy» describes bullying by powerful countries.

### examples

- A gunboat sailed up the river. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gunboat/#x1)
- The navy sent two gunboats to guard the harbour. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gunboat/#x2)
- The gunboat's guns pointed at the shore. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gunboat/#x3)
- Historians call this «gunboat diplomacy». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gunboat/#x4)
- Gunboats were used in the Opium Wars in China. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gunboat/#x5)
- The model gunboat had tiny cannons. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gunboat/#x6)

### note

Countable; one word.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «gunboat» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gunboat/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.