frigate

noun8

1. •
   Any of several types of warship.
2. •
   A modern type of warship, equivalent in size or smaller than a destroyer, often focused on anti-submarine warfare, but sometimes general purpose.
3. •
   A warship or space warship, inspired by one of the many historic varieties of frigate.
4. •
   (historical) A sailing warship (of any size) built for speed and maneuverability; typically without raised upperworks, having a flush forecastle and tumblehome sides.
5. •
   (historical) A sailing warship with a single continuous gun deck, typically used for patrolling and blockading duties, but not considered large enough for the line of battle.
6. •
   (historical) A warship combining sail and steam propulsion, typically of ironclad timber construction, supplementing and superseding sailing ships of the line at the beginning of the development of the ironclad battleship.
7. •
   (historical) An escort warship, smaller than a destroyer, introduced in World War 2 as an anti-submarine vessel.
8. •
   A frigatebird (Fregata spp.).

   • These frigates are all so lazy, that they perch by day on the trees, at the edge of the sea, awaiting the other birds […] — 2008