sloop

Noun

1. A single-masted sailboat with only one headsail.
   • 1789, Olaudah Equiano (Gustavus Vassa), The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, I stayed in this island for a few days; I believe it could not be above a fortnight; when I and some few more slaves,...
   • And where but from Nantucket, too, did that first adventurous little sloop put forth, partly laden with imported cobblestones—so goes the story—to throw at the whales, in order to discover when they were nigh enough to...
   • Mr. Cooke had had a sloop yacht built at Far Harbor, the completion of which had been delayed, and which was but just delivered. - 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter X, in The Celebrity: An...
2. A sailing warship, smaller than a frigate, with its guns all on one deck.
3. A sloop-of-war, smaller than a frigate, larger than a corvette.