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plural fireships
(nautical) A sailing ship that has been set alight and left to drift into an opposing fleet. Famously used by Englishman Sir Francis Drake when fighting the Spanish Armada of 1588. quotations examples
His attempt in 208 to cross the Yangtse was frustrated in the famous battle of Ch'ih-pi, in which his immense fleet was destroyed by his enemies' fireships, and most of his army slain.
1984, Witold Rodzinksi, The Walled Kingdom: A History of China from 2000 BC to the Present, London: Fontana Paperbacks, page 69
(vulgar, slang) A diseased prostitute.