Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Ironclad |
IroncladAdjective1. Inflexibly entrenched and unchangeable; "brassbound traditions"; "brassbound party loyalists"; "an ironclad rule". 2. Without flaws or loopholes; "an ironclad contract"; "a watertight alibi". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "ironclad" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1870. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Literature | Ironclad (An). A ship having the hull sheathed wholly or in part with plates of iron, to resist projectiles. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Ironclad Warships, more commonly referred to by naval historians and buffs as Ironclads, were ships sheathed with thick iron plates for protection.
Premodern Ironclads
Oda Nobunaga, a Japanese daimyo, had six iron-covered Ōatakebune (大安宅船) made in 1576. He defeated Mori's navy with them at the mouth of the Kizu River, Osaka in 1578. They are regarded as floating fortresses rather than warships.
The Koreans developed Geobukseon ("Turtle[-shaped] ships") in the 16th century to thwart the repeated attempts by Japan to invade Joseon. The geobukseon--designed by the admiral Yi Sun-sin--were said to be ironclads; however, they were not fully covered but just roofed with iron plates or metal thorns so that enemy soldiers could not take the ships.
Modern Ironclads
In 1856, the French navy experimented with ironclad floating batteries as a means of reducing the fearsome Russian defenses at Sevastapol. In 1857, the British constructed two similar devices to reduce Russian coastal defenses in Lithuania, but failed to use them before the conclusion of hostilities. While these devices were ironclad, and built on floating "rafts", they had to be towed into position and had no motive power of their own.
The first steam-powered Ironclads were utilized during the American Civil War. The first of these vessels to see action, CSS Manassass, was a turtleback ironclad steam-tug formerlly known as the Enoch Train. She was used in combat against the U.S. Navy and proved somewhat effective initially until U.S. ships learned to exploit her rather weak armor. The first engagement of two ironclad warships was the Battle of Hampton Roads, from March 8-9, 1862. Though the engagement was inconclusive, the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia and its Federal counterpart, USS Monitor, became somewhat legendary, and helped to usher in a new age of armored, steam powered warships.
The largest battle involving ironclads of this type was the Battle of Lissa in 1866. Waged between the Austro-Hungarian and Italian navies, the battle pitted combined fleets of wooden ships of the line and ironclad warships on both sides in the largest European naval battle since the Battle of Trafalgar. The victory won by Austria-Hungary established it briefly as the predominant naval power in the Mediterranean.
The ironclad continued to be the dominant style of warship and developed into what is sometimes called the Old Battleship before being replaced by more advanced, far more seaworthy vessels known to history as Pre-Dreadnoughts. These, in turn of course, helped to usher in the age of the Battleship.
While the ironclad warship suffered from numerous flaws, the fact that it became the prominent naval weapon of its era and inspired nearly a century of progressively heavier armored warships can be ascribed to its massive advantage over the previous ships of the line in terms of protection. While a ship of the line could resist some damage, it was terribly vulnerable to fire and found itself completely outclassed by the new developments in naval armament beginning in the middle of the nineteenth century. Combined with the phenomenon of the steam engine, the ironclad warship could outfight, outgun, and eventually outrun even the most powerful three decker.
The age of the ironclad officially ended with the birth of the pre-dreadnought; however, its influence continued to be felt until the end of the Second World War, when naval theorists argued that the armored warship had outlived its usefulness. Recent naval encounters, however, have caused the concept of the armored warship to be re-evaluated, and perhaps the ironclad will live on in some form, after all.
See also: Battleships
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Ironclad warship."
Synonyms: IroncladSynonyms: brassbound (adj), unassailable (adj), unshakable (adj), watertight (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Combatant | Man-of-war; destroyer; submarine; minesweeper; torpedo-boat, torpedo-destroyer; patrol torpedo boat, PT boat; torpedo-catcher, war castle, H.M.S.; battleship, battle wagon, dreadnought, line of battle ship, ship of the line; aircraft carrier, carrier. flattop; helicopter carrier; missile platform, missile boat; ironclad, turret ship, ram, monitor, floating battery; first-rate, frigate, sloop of war, corvette, gunboat, bomb vessel; flagship, guard ship, cruiser; armored cruiser, protected cruiser; privateer. |
Covering | Adjective: covering; Verb: superimposed, overlaid, plated; Verb: cutaneous, dermal, cortical, cuticular, tegumentary, skinny, scaly, squamous; covered; Verb: imbricated, loricated, armor plated, ironclad; under cover; cowled, cucullate, dermatoid, encuirassed, hooded, squamiferous, tectiform; vaginate. |
Defense | Adjective: defending;Verb: defensive; mural; armed, armed at all points, armed cap-a-pie, armed to the teeth; panoplied; iron-plated, ironclad; loopholed, castellated, machicolated, casemated; defended;Verb: proof against. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Ironclad |
| English words defined with "ironclad": Bilge keel, brassbound ♦ Iron-cased ♦ Sally port ♦ Turret ship ♦ unassailable, unshakable ♦ watertight. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "ironclad": Farnese Hercules. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Confederate Ironclad (1912) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Consumer Goods |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Lithograph by Currier & Ives, New York, providing a curious (and quite inaccurate) view of the action off Fort Pillow in which the Confederate River Defense Fleet, under Captain James E. Montgomery, attacked Federal gunboats. The print identifies the following ships (from left to right): CSS "Mallory" (a non-existent vessel, shown sinking); CSS Louisiana (an ironclad that had already been destroyed by this time); USS Cincinnati; USS Benton; USS Cairo; USS Carondelet; USS Saint Louis; and USS Conestoga. Credit: NAVY. |  | 19th-Century painting, by an unidentified artist, depicting U.S. Navy ironclads bombarding Fort Fisher during one of the two assaults that ended in its capture. Twin-turret monitor in the center foreground is Monadnock. Large broadside ironclad beyond is New Ironsides. The three single-turret monitors are Canonicus, Mahopac and Saugus. Credit: NAVY. |
 | Photograph of a general arrangement drawing of the boat and its spar torpedo. The original plan appears to be of 19th Century vintage and is drawn on cloth. Lieutenant William B. Cushing used U.S. Navy Picket Boat No. 1 to sink the Confederate ironclad Albemarle on the night of 27-28 October 1864. Credit: NAVY. |  | Engraved view of the ship's hull, housed over in its building dock at Hoboken, New Jersey, circa 1874. The boarding around the protective shiphouse has been artistically removed to show the hull, which is seen from off the port quarter. Published in the book: "The Stevens Ironclad Battery", in 1874. The original volume is held by the Navy Department Library. Credit: NAVY. |
 | Engraved side elevation of the main engine, of the return connecting rod type, published in the book: "The Stevens Ironclad Battery", in 1874. The original volume is held by the Navy Department Library. Credit: NAVY. |  | Engraved end elevation of the main engine, of the return connecting rod type, published in the book: "The Stevens Ironclad Battery", in 1874. The original volume is held by the Navy Department Library. Credit: NAVY. |
 | Engraved plan of a section of the ship's side armor, showing armor support, backing and 10-inch iron armor, as planned for installation in 1874. This armor scheme reflects the ship's ultimate configuration, with a monitor-type armored extension around the hull at the waterline. Published in the book: "The Stevens Ironclad Battery", in 1874. The original volume is held by the Navy Department Library. Credit: NAVY. |  | Colored plan of a gun and mounting intended for the Confederate ironclad Texas, which was launched in January 1865 at Richmond, Virginia, but not completed. Inscribed in the lower left of the drawing is: "Arranged and executed under the direction of George T. Grey (?) Supdt. and Constr. of Naval Gun Carriages, Naval Ordnance Works. Gun Carriage Dept., Richmond, Va., 1864." Prior to its acquisition by the National Archives, this drawing was in the files of the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Construction and Repair. Credit: NAVY. |
 | Moored off Plymouth, England, during the later 1860s, with another ironclad in the left distance. Wivern's bulwarks and smokestack are in the "up" position. Credit: NAVY. |  | Unknown location. Battered smokestack from C.S.S. ironclad ram Virginia No. 2. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| "Ironclad" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Ironclad" is used about 3 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 3 | 202,518 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "ironclad": ironclad argument. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
ironclad | 45 |
ironclad gloves | 29 |
ironclad ship | 14 |
ironclad monitor | 3 |
ironclad model | 2 |
ironclad picture | 2 |
ironclad picture ship | 2 |
civil ironclad ship war | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "ironclad"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | i veshur me pllaka hekuri, i koracuar (armor-clad, armored, armor-plated, armour-clad, armoured, armour-plated, panzer, steel-clad). (various references) | |
Arabic | مصفح (armored, armoured, beaten, coated, laminated, plated), مدرع (armor-clad, armored, armour-clad, armoured), المدرعة (armored cruiser, armoured cruiser). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | строг (astringent, austere, censorious, close, firm, grim, hard, hard and fast, hard-grained, hardhanded, narrow, religious, rigid, rigorous, rugged, severe, sinewy, stern, straitlaced, strict, stringent, taut, unaffable, uncharitable), непреклонен (adamant, adamantine, austere, cast iron, implacable, inexorable, inexpiable, inflexible, iron-bound, relentless, rigid, rigorous, rugged, stern, unbending, uncompromising, unrelenting, unyielding), броненосец (armadillo, armor-clad, armour-clad), брониран (armor-clad, armored, armor-plated, armour, armour-clad, armoured, armour-plated, panzer, shell-proof, steel plated, steel-clad), покрит с желязо. (various references) | |
Chinese | "包. (various references) | |
Czech | obrnìný (armored, armoured, mailed, steel-clad). (various references) | |
Farsi | سفت (Astringent, Callous, Concrete, Fast, Hard, Inelastic, Stark, Stiff, Taut, Tenacious, Tense, Thick, Tight, Tough, Wiry), زره پوش , اهن پوش . (various references) | |
Finnish | panssaroitu (armoured). (various references) | |
French | cuirassé, blindé. (various references) | |
German | gepanzert (armor-clad, armored, armour-clad, armoured), eisern (flagging, indefatigable, iron, unshakable). (various references) | |
Greek | τεθωρακισμένοσ (mail, mailed, panzer). (various references) | |
Hebrew | משורין (armoured, secured), א ית שריון (armoured cruiser, monitor). (various references) | |
Hungarian | páncélos (Armor, armor-clad, armored, armour, armour-clad, armoured, armour-plated, hard-shell, iron-clad, mail-clad, mailed, panzer, steel plated, steel-clad, testaceous), páncéllal borított. (various references) | |
Indonesian | sukar dirobah. (various references) | |
Italian | rivestito di ferro, corazzata (battleship). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 鉄則 (inviolable rule, ironclad regulation). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | てっそく (inviolable rule, ironclad regulation). (various references) | |
Manx | lhong plaitit. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ironcladay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | recoberto de ferro, rígido (accomplished, dour, frigid, relentless, rigid, set, severe, stark, stern, strict, stringent, unbending, uncomplying), guarnecido de armatura. (various references) | |
Russian | жесткий (bristly, chewy, get-tough, hard, hard and fast, harsh, leathery, rigid, stiff, tough), покрытый броней. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | oklopljen (armor-clad, armour-clad, mail-clad). (various references) | |
Spanish | acorazado (battleship, Dreadnought, protected). (various references) | |
Swedish | pansarskepp (armored vessel, armoured vessel), oantastlig (inviolable, unassailable, unexceptionable), oangripbar (invulnerable, unassailable), järnhård (iron), bepansrad (steel plated). (various references) | |
Thai | หุ้มเกราะ (mail), ซึ่งไม่ยื"หยุ่น (inelastic). (various references) | |
Turkish | zırhlı gemi (battleship, Dreadnought), zırhlı araç, zırhlı (armed, armor-clad, armored, armor-plated, armour-clad, armoured, armour-plated, mailed, panzer, steel-clad), sert (acrid, adamant, astringent, austere, bad, bitter, boisterous, bossy, brisk, brutal, cast iron, crusty, cutting, drastic, exact, exacting, fierce, firm, flinty, forbidding, get-tough, granitic, grim, gruff, gusty, hard, hard and fast, hard bitten, hard line, hard set, hardening, hard-hitting, harsh, heady, heavy, heavy-handed, hot, ill natured, inclement, incompressible, inelastic, intemperate, iron, keen, nappy, pointed, pungent, rigid, rigorous, rough, round, sclerous, severe, sharp, sharp-set, short, short-spoken, shrewd, smart, solid, sound, spanking, spartan, spiky, stand up, starched, starchy, stark, stern, stiff, strict, stringent, strong, surly, tart, tough, unbending, ungentle, unkind, unrelenting, unshaded, unyielding, vehement, violent), katı (callous, emphatic, emphatical, firm, fold, hard, hard and fast, hard boiled, hard line, insensitive, rigid, sclerous, solid, Square, steel, steely, stern, stiff, strict), demir kaplı, şiddetli (acute, astringent, bitter, brutal, burning, cast iron, consuming, deep, drastic, exquisite, extreme, ferocious, flaming, flash, forceful, frenetic, frenzied, fulminant, furious, gusty, hard, harsh, heavy, high, hot, impetuous, intemperate, intense, intensive, keen, profound, rigorous, round, severe, sharp, slashing, sledgehammer, smacking, smart, smashing, spanking, splitting, stand up, stern, stinging, stormy, strenuous, strong, sweeping, tempestuous, torrential, vehement, vicious, vigorous, violent, virulent). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | броньований (armor-clad, armored, armor-plated, armour-clad, armoured, armour-plated, mailed, panzer, protected, shellproof, steel plated, steel-clad), броненосець. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | bọc sắt cứng rắn. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "ironclad": ironclads. (additional references) | |
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"Ironclad" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: ironeclad. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-c-d-i-l-n-o-r" | |
-1 letter: caldron, clarion, cordial, nodical, ordinal. | |
-2 letters: aldrin, alnico, anodic, candor, carlin, caroli, codlin, inroad, ladino, ladron, lardon, lorica, nordic, oilcan, ordain, rancid. | |
-3 letters: acold, acorn, acrid, adorn, alcid, aloin, aroid, caird, cairn, canid, carol, claro, colin, coral, coria, danio, daric, dinar, dolci, drail, drain, indol, laird, liard, lidar, linac, loran, nadir, narco, naric. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-c-d-i-l-n-o-r" | |
+1 letter: clarioned, doctrinal, holandric, ironclads. | |
+3 letters: accordingly, carillonned, chancroidal, chlorinated, cordialness, cordilleran, crocodilian, declaration, directional, doctrinally, endocardial, palindromic, radiolucent, redactional, reductional, secondarily. | |
+4 letters: clapboarding, conductorial, considerable, considerably, consolidator, coordinately, cowardliness, crocodilians, deceleration, dechlorinate, declarations, discordantly, edulcorating, hydronically, perichondral, productional, radiolucency, radionuclide, reinoculated, roadblocking, sardonically. | |
+5 letters: aerodynamical, archidiaconal, bidirectional, cephaloridine, comradeliness, considerables, considerately, consolidators, constrainedly, cordialnesses, coresidential, countervailed, decelerations, dechlorinated, dechlorinates, dendrological, discoloration, documentarily, glucuronidase, mitochondrial, porcelainized, radionuclides, reconsolidate, reduplication, unchlorinated, valedictorian. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Expressions 10. Expressions: Internet 11. Translations: Modern 12. Derivations | 13. Anagrams 14. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
