4 definitions found From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]: Vessel \Ves"sel\, noun [OF. vessel, veissel, vaissel, vaissiel, F. vascellum, dim. of vasculum, dim. of vas a vessel. Cf. {Vascular}, {Vase}.] 1. A hollow or concave utensil for holding anything; a hollow receptacle of any kind, as a hogshead, a barrel, a firkin, a bottle, a kettle, a cup, a bowl, etc. [They drank] out of these noble vessels. --Chaucer. 2. A general name for any hollow structure made to float upon the water for purposes of navigation; especially, one that is larger than a common rowboat; as, a war vessel; a passenger vessel. [He] began to build a vessel of huge bulk. --Milton. 3. Fig.: A person regarded as receiving or containing something; esp. (Script.), one into whom something is conceived as poured, or in whom something is stored for use; as, vessels of wrath or mercy. He is a chosen vessel unto me. --Acts ix. 15. [The serpent] fit vessel, fittest imp of fraud, in whom To enter. --Milton. 4. (Anat.) Any tube or canal in which the blood or other fluids are contained, secreted, or circulated, as the arteries, veins, lymphatics, etc. 5. (Bot.) A continuous tube formed from superposed large cylindrical or prismatic cells (trache[ae]), which have lost their intervening partitions, and are usually marked with dots, pits, rings, or spirals by internal deposition of secondary membranes; a duct. {Acoustic vessels}. See under {Acoustic}. {Weaker vessel}, a woman; -- now applied humorously. ''Giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel.'' --1 Peter iii. 7. ''You are the weaker vessel.'' --Shak. From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]: Vessel \Ves"sel\, verb (used with an object) To put into a vessel. [Obs.] --Bacon. From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]: vessel noun 1: a tube in which a body fluid circulates [syn: {vas}] 2: a craft designed for water transportation [syn: {watercraft}] 3: an object used as a container (especially for liquids) From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]: 206 Moby Thesaurus words for "vessel": Eustachian tube, Fallopian tube, LC, LSD, LSM, SC, aircraft carrier, aircraft tender, ammunition ship, argosy, ark, assault transport, bark, battleship, bawley, beaker, bilander, blackjack, boat, bomb ketch, bottom, bowl, brig, brigantine, bucket, bully, buss, canal, capital ship, caravel, carrier, cat, catamaran, chalice, clipper, coast guard cutter, coffee cup, communications ship, container, convoy, corsair, corvette, craft, cruiser, cutter, dandy, depot ship, destroyer, destroyer leader, destroyer tender, dhow, dispatch boat, dreadnought, dromond, duct, eagle boat, eggcup, emunctory, escort carrier, escort vessel, fire ship, first-rate, fishing smack, fistula, flagship, flattie, flattop, four-masted bark, four-master, frigate, fuel ship, galiot, galleass, galleon, glass, goblet, guided missile cruiser, gunboat, heavy cruiser, highball glass, holder, hooker, horn, hospital ship, hoy, hulk, hull, ice yacht, intestines, ironclad, jigger, junk, keel, keelboat, ketch, knockabout, landing craft, lateen, lateener, leviathan, liberty boat, light cruiser, line-of-battle ship, lorcha, loving cup, lugger, meatus, mine sweeper, minisub, monitor, mosquito boat, mug, nobby, noggin, ocean racer, ostium, outrigger, oviduct, packet, patrol boat, picketboat, pilot boat, pinnace, piragua, pirogue, pony, pore, pram, privateer, protected cruiser, pungy, racing yacht, raider, ram, receiver, receiving ship, receptacle, reconnaissance ship, rigger, rocket boat, sailing auxiliary, sailing canoe, sailing dinghy, sailing packet, sailing trawler, salpinx, sampan, sandbagger, schooner, schooper, scooter, scout, scout cruiser, seaplane carrier, shallop, sharpie, shell, ship, ship of war, shipentine, shipplane carrier, shot glass, skipjack, sloop, smack, smack boat, snow, spy ship, stein, storeship, storm boat, submarine, submarine chaser, submarine patrol boat, submarine tender, submersible, superdreadnought, sweeper, tankard, tanker, tartan, tassie, teacup, tender, thoracic duct, topsail schooner, transport, trimaran, troopship, tub, tumbler, turret ship, ureter, urethra, utensil, vagina, vas, warship, watercraft, well smack, whaler, wineglass, wool-clipper, xebec, yacht, yawl

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