How to Use ensign in a Sentence

ensign

noun
  • Just what all those new ensigns and their proud parents wanted to hear.
    — Dan Rodricks, baltimoresun.com, 20 May 2017
  • And all this happens there, in the solitude of reading, while the ensign takes a nap.
    — Phil Klay, Harper's Magazine, 23 Nov. 2021
  • The ensign is hoisted, the pennant is broken, the orders have been read, the first watch set.
    — Flint McColgan, Boston Herald, 28 Mar. 2026
  • Half-hearted stints, in the next few years, as a legal apprentice and an army ensign proved just as abortive.
    — Clare Bucknell, Harper’s Magazine , 12 Oct. 2022
  • Half-hearted stints, in the next few years, as a legal apprentice and an army ensign proved just as abortive.
    — Clare Bucknell, Harper’s Magazine , 26 Oct. 2022
  • For their heroic efforts, two — an ensign and a seaman — were awarded medals of honor.
    — Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press, 6 Dec. 2024
  • Their initial success did not mean these groundbreaking black ensigns would be spared future slights.
    — Dan C. Goldberg, Time, 19 May 2020
  • The windbreaker, which always features the eagle ensign, used to be bluish-gray.
    — Katy Waldman, Slate Magazine, 5 Oct. 2017
  • Worse still, scans show portions of Gamble’s brain have died, which sends the ensign into a panic.
    — Keith Phipps, Vulture, 7 Aug. 2025
  • Cervantes could have made the ensign read the manuscript aloud to the licentiate.
    — Phil Klay, Harper's Magazine, 23 Nov. 2021
  • The photo was a black-and-white portrait of England in his Navy ensign’s uniform.
    — National Geographic, 8 Nov. 2016
  • As the British ensign was lowered to the tune of a navy band, Her Majesty was photographed blinking back tears.
    — Anna Fixsen, ELLE Decor, 8 Nov. 2022
  • Among them were the blue ensign of Australia and the two banners of its Indigenous peoples.
    — Michael E. Miller, Washington Post, 20 Oct. 2023
  • The next night, those same ensigns ordered an apprentice to take the watchful pedometer and shake it while the night watchmen took their normal rest.
    — Jacqueline D. Wernimont, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 Nov. 2024
  • Four sailors who put the tracking devices aboard the boats were also named in the indictment, as was a sergeant and an ensign, or low-ranking officer.
    — Michael Loria, USA TODAY, 20 Mar. 2025
  • With the naval ensign of Italy flag waving rapidly at the boat's bow, the couple take in the splendid views of the Mediterranean coast.
    — Alexis Jones, Peoplemag, 2 Sep. 2023
  • However, his chances of making the roster took a major hit last month when the Navy upheld his commission as an ensign.
    — Steve Gardner, USA TODAY, 6 July 2021
  • The ensign was deconstructed and reimagined in hushed blue tones rather than the flag's typical combination of red, white and blue.
    — Leah Dolan, CNN, 14 June 2021
  • Thankfully, the rest of the team shows up to arrest Wills, having gotten confessions from his men about the ensign's murder.
    — Sara Netzley, EW.com, 14 Feb. 2023
  • Her first tour as an ensign took her to Seattle for an assignment aboard an icebreaker, the Polar Star.
    — New York Times, 31 May 2022
  • Courtesy of Michael Rosenberg Back then, for 18 long months at sea, the ensign didn't see a single woman.
    — Howard Cohen, miamiherald, 13 Apr. 2018
  • The graduates receive commissions as Navy ensigns or second lieutenants in the Marine Corps and serve at least five years.
    — Jeff Barker, baltimoresun.com, 25 May 2018
  • Then the team's called to investigate the murder of an ensign who was gunned down at the wheel of a truck transporting $3 million of black-market opioids that the Navy seized at sea.
    — Sara Netzley, EW.com, 14 Feb. 2023
  • Joshua Watson, an ensign, was one of the three people killed in Friday’s shooting, the Navy confirmed late Saturday.
    — Author: Katie Mettler, Marisa Iati, Derek Hawkins, Anchorage Daily News, 8 Dec. 2019
  • In June 1954, Rumsfeld graduated and was commissioned an ensign in the Navy.
    — Robert Burns, ajc, 1 July 2021
  • In June 1954, Rumsfeld graduated and was commissioned an ensign in the Navy.
    — Robert Burns, Star Tribune, 30 June 2021
  • The ensign, who had neglected to check the tides before entering the harbor, immediately reported his failure to his superiors, who fired him and hauled him before a court-martial.
    — Davis Winkie, USA Today, 14 Oct. 2025
  • Four years later, he was commissioned as an ensign and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
    — Robert Pearlman, ArsTechnica, 9 Aug. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ensign.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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