trireme

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. An ancient Greek or Roman galley or warship, having three tiers of oars on each side.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A vessel with three benches, ranks, or tiers of oars on a side: a type of ancient Greek war-ship of great efficiency, copied by the Romans and other peoples. The trireme was provided with one, two, or three masts, which were unstepped when the vessel was not under sail. At first naval battles were simply contests of weight or force, and the victory fell to the trireme which had the greatest number of lighting men, or the best-disciplined, on board, nautical manœuvers being scarcely attempted. The Athenians, however, in the fifth century b. c., introduced very skilful naval tactics, and made hand-to-hand fighting by the marines subordinate to the attempt to disable the enemy's ship by ramming her amidships, or by crushing her banks of oars. The perfected trireme resembled more closely in theory and tactics the modern steam-ram than any form of ship that has intervened. It was long, narrow, and swift; the modern steam-engine was represented by the mechanical rowing of about 170 men, carefully trained, and under perfect command; and it was entirely independent of its sails, which were not hoisted unless, while cruising, the wind chanced to be favorable.

Wiktionary

1. n. history, nautical, archaic A galley with three banks of oars, one above the other, used mainly as a warship.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Class. Antiq.) An ancient galley or vessel with tree banks, or tiers, of oars.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. ancient Greek or Roman galley or warship having three tiers of oars on each side