mother ship

noun

: a ship serving smaller craft

Examples of mother ship in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In the Apollo days, the lander and the mother ship were launched on the same rocket. — Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 29 Jan. 2026 The last scene in that script is this little alien that gets left behind by its mother ship and is left alone on Earth. — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 10 June 2026 In other words, this car functions as a mother ship capable of transporting and charging a compact flying car. — Daisuke Takimoto, Wired News, 9 May 2026 After my grandmother passed, Italy no longer felt like the mother ship, and the younger generation’s Italian Americanness faded with assimilation. — Chris Morocco, Bon Appetit Magazine, 4 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for mother ship

Word History

First Known Use

1867, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of mother ship was in 1867

Rhymes for mother ship

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Browse Nearby Words

mother sauce
mother ship
mother-sib
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Cite this Entry

“Mother ship.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mother%20ship. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about mother ship

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