VESSEL

vessel, watercraft

(noun) a craft designed for water transportation

vessel

(noun) an object used as a container (especially for liquids)

vessel, vas

(noun) a tube in which a body fluid circulates

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

vessel (plural vessels)

(nautical) Any craft designed for transportation on water, such as a ship or boat. [From c.1300]

A craft designed for transportation through air or space. [From 1915]

(uncountable, obsolete or dialectal) Dishes and cutlery collectively, especially if made of precious metals. [c.1300–c.1600]

A container of liquid or other substance, such as a glass, goblet, cup, bottle, bowl, or pitcher. [From c.1300]

A person as a container of qualities or feelings. [From 1382]

(biology) A tube or canal that carries fluid in an animal or plant. [From 1398]

Synonyms

• See also vessel

Verb

vessel (third-person singular simple present vessels, present participle (US) vesseling or vesselling, simple past and past participle (US) vesseled or vesselled)

(transitive) To put into a vessel.

Anagrams

• -selves, selves

Source: Wiktionary

Ves"sel, n. Etym: [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.)

Definition: Any tube or canal in which the blood or other fluids are contained, secreted, or circulated, as the arteries, veins, lymphatics, etc.

5. (Bot.)

Definition: A continuous tube formed from superposed large cylindrical or prismatic cells (tracheæ), 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.

Ves"sel, v. t.

Definition: To put into a vessel. [Obs.] Bacon.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition