destroyer
n. countablen. a fast warship designed to protect larger ships from smaller attacks. You use this word when talking about naval history or modern military fleets.
n. a fast, heavily armed warship designed primarily to defend larger vessels against submarine and aircraft attacks.
The destroyer patrols the open ocean.
The navy sent a destroyer to escort the aircraft carrier through the narrow strait.
Modern destroyers serve as the backbone of naval task forces, combining advanced radar systems with long-range missile capabilities to project power across vast maritime domains.
Inherited from Middle English destroyour, destroyere; By surface analysis, destroy + -er. Designating a warship, it is ellipsis of torpedo-boat destroyer, the longer term appearing at the end of the 19th century and the shorter form early in the 20th.