mother ship

plural mother ships · alternative mothership

1. A vessel, aircraft or spacecraft that serves or carries a smaller vessel or vessels that operate independently from it.
2. broadlyThe main source or supporter of something.

   “Tragically the mothership of terrorism is a country in India’s neighbourhood,” Modi told a gathering in India of the heads of governments of the Brics countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

   2016 October 16, Jon Boone, “Narendra Modi labels Pakistan 'mothership of terrorism'”, in The Guardian

3. human sciencesThe largest vessel in a fleet of spaceships, from which the fleet is commanded and smaller spacecraft can be launched.

   One Tuesday evening early in October, 1960, he and his wife believed they say hovering near their home five or six flying saucers and their mother ship.

   1965, James Holledge, Flying Saucers Over Australia, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 77

4. broadlyThe largest and most fearsome example of something.

   SDCC is the mothership of all cons. It's enormous. It has the best stars.

   2015 May 12, Sam Maggs, The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy: A Handbook for Girl Geeks, Quirk Books, →ISBN, page 114

   2 more examples

   These vices all feed the mothership of hubris, however, which several of the key characters demonstrate in ample measure.

   2021 July 22, Antoine de Bengy Puyvallée, Kristian Bjørkdahl, Do-Gooders at the End of Aid: Scandinavian Humanitarianism in the Twenty-First Century, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 70

   Sephora is the “mothership of the modern-day beauty industry”, claims Greg Silverman, global director of brand economics at the marketing consultancy Interbrand.

   2024 March 4, Zoe Wood, “Sephora: ‘mothership of modern-day beauty industry’ revels in a retail makeover”, in The Guardian