gunboat
pronunciation
How to pronounce gunboat in British English:
UK [ˈgʌnbəʊt]
How to pronounce gunboat in American English:
US [ˈgʌnboʊt]
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- Noun:
- a small shallow-draft boat carrying mounted guns; used by costal patrols
Word Origin
- gunboat (n.)
- also gun-boat, "small boat fitted with guns for service inshore or up rivers," 1793, from gun (n.) + boat (n.). Gunboat diplomacy is from 1916, originally with reference to Western policies in China.
Example
- 1. After six decades of gunboat diplomacy , any detente is to be welcomed .
- 2. For many germans , who oppose foreign military expeditions on any grounds , this smacked of gunboat diplomacy .
- 3. Even so , the obama administration has been an active practitioner of gunboat diplomacy , a term that refers to achieving foreign-policy objectives through vivid displays of naval might .
- 4. China has not shied away from gunboat diplomacy in the past , and the harassment of the usns impeccable , for example , shows that a growing chinese naval presence in asia is not a stabilizing force .
- 5. Several asean nations dispute ownership of islands with china , and china 's preparedness to assert its claims with aggressive warnings and even a bit of gunboat diplomacy has worried smaller neighbours , notably vietnam and the philippines .