: one that is among the largest or most powerful of its kind
Did you know?
Fear nothing - that is essentially what "dread" plus "nought" means. The name might seem a strange one for a garment, but if you consider that dreadnoughts were worn onboard ships, you can appreciate the colorful name perhaps as much as the seafaring men must have appreciated the thick protection dreadnoughts offered from the elements. The clothes and the cloth, first called "fearnought" in the late 18th century, came long before the battleship. Not until 1906 did the British Navy launch HMS Dreadnought, the first battleship to have a main armament consisting entirely of big guns all of the same caliber. All ships of this type were then called "dreadnoughts." That particular type of battleship soon became obsolete, but their legacy lives on in the extended third sense of "dreadnought."
poor gas mileage did little to stem the popularity of that dreadnought of the roadways: the SUV
Recent Examples on the WebWhat forces have brought this dreadnought to our shores? Dan Neil, WSJ, 6 Jan. 2022 The Tiffany diamond, a 128.54-carat dreadnought that Lady Gaga wore to the Academy Awards last year, was somewhere else. James Barron, New York Times, 13 Jan. 2020 In the summer of 1914, with nationalist agitation at its height, all the major European powers were armed and bristling, with millions of men in standing armies and dreadnoughts and howitzers galore, all ready to be mobilized within weeks. Zachary Karabell, WSJ, 30 Nov. 2018 The actual dreadnought was an early 20th century warship with big guns and steam power meant to be the apex predator of naval warfare, a deadly match for any other warship and a deliverer of terror through coastal bombardment. Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, 18 Dec. 2017 The actual dreadnought was an early 20th century warship with big guns and steam power meant to be the apex predator of naval warfare, a deadly match for any other warship and a deliverer of terror through coastal bombardment. Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, 18 Dec. 2017 The ship is the last surviving dreadnought class battleship and a veteran of both world wars. Craig Hlavaty, Houston Chronicle, 17 May 2018 The actual dreadnought was an early 20th century warship with big guns and steam power meant to be the apex predator of naval warfare, a deadly match for any other warship and a deliverer of terror through coastal bombardment. Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, 18 Dec. 2017 The actual dreadnought was an early 20th century warship with big guns and steam power meant to be the apex predator of naval warfare, a deadly match for any other warship and a deliverer of terror through coastal bombardment. Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, 18 Dec. 2017 See More