pre-dreadnought

noun

A late-19th-century or early-20th-century battleship with a small number of big guns (typically no more than four) and a large number of quick-firing medium-caliber guns. It was made largely obsolete in 1906 by the dreadnought type of battleship.

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Meanings

nounpre-dreadnought (plural pre-dreadnoughts)

plural pre-dreadnoughts · alternative predreadnought

  1. historicalgovernmentA late-19th-century or early-20th-century battleship with a small number of big guns (typically no more than four) and a large number of quick-firing medium-caliber guns. It was made largely obsolete in 1906 by the dreadnought type of battleship.

Origin

From pre- + dreadnought.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Czech predreadnought
  • predreadnoughtlate-19th or early-20th-century battleship
Hebrew קְדַם דְּרֶדְנוֹט
  • קְדַם דְּרֶדְנוֹט (kdam drednot)late-19th or early-20th-century battleship
Russian додредно́ут
  • додредно́ут (dodrednóut)late-19th or early-20th-century battleship
Cite this entry
APA

pre-dreadnought. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pre-dreadnought

MLA

“pre-dreadnought.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pre-dreadnought. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pre-dreadnought,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pre-dreadnought.

Source: pre-dreadnought on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.