Brewer's: Man-of-War

(A). A Government fighting-ship. The term is not now often used.

Man-of-war,
or, Portuguese man-of-war. The nautilus.

“Frank went to the captain and told him that Tom had given him leave to have the man-of-war if he could get it.” —Goulding: Adventures of the Young Marooners, 17.

Man-of-war bird.
The frigate-bird.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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