Brig definition

brĭg
A two-masted sailing vessel, square-rigged on both masts.
noun
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(u.s. navy) A place where offenders are temporarily confined, as on a warship.
noun
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A jail or prison on board a US Navy or Coast Guard vessel.
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A jail or guardhouse, especially on the premises of a US military installation.
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A two-masted ship with square-rigged sails.
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(mil., slang) The guardhouse; prison.
noun
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(nautical) A two-masted vessel, square-rigged on both foremast and mainmast.
noun
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(US) A jail or guardhouse, especially in a naval military prison or jail on a ship, navy base, or (in fiction) spacecraft.
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(Scotland) Bridge.

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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
brig
Plural:
brigs

Origin of brig

  • Short for brigantine Senses 2 and 3, from the use of ships as prisons

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Abbreviated from brigantine, from Italian brigantino; in sense “jail”, from the use of such ships as prisons.

    From Wiktionary

  • Shortening of brigadier

    From Wiktionary

Brig Sentence Examples

  • The New Brig was built in 1788, mainly owing to the efforts of Provost Ballantyne.

  • The Auld Brig is said to date from the reign of Alexander III.

  • From the new bridge of Don to the "auld brig" of Dee there is tramway communication via King Street, Union Street and Holburn Road - a distance of over five miles.

  • Ross, who had commanded a brig during the English occupation of Java, settled with his family (who continued in the ownership) on Direction Island, and his little colony was soon strengthened by Hare's runaway slaves.

  • Kara is either in the brig or on the verge of being thrown there.

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Words near brig in the Dictionary