flagship

Pluralflagships

Formsflagships, flagshipping, flagshipped

1. 1
   main productnouncountablebefore a noun

   The most important member of a group of related things, such as a company's leading store or product.

   The new phone is the company's flagship, with its best camera and fastest chip.

   The governor's flagship education program ran out of money in its second year.

   Similarshowpiece, centerpiece

   Note

   It most often stands before another noun: a flagship store, a flagship phone, a government's flagship rail plan. Whatever the field, it marks the one item an organization puts forward to represent the rest, its showcase. Chief or principal would say the same in plainer terms; flagship keeps a trace of the lead ship at the head of a fleet.

2. 2
   admiral's shipnouncountable

   The ship that carries a fleet's commander, usually an admiral, and shows it by flying the commander's flag.

   The admiral transferred to the flagship an hour before the battle began.

   Signal flags on the flagship ordered the squadron to turn north.

   Note

   The name is literal, flag plus ship: the vessel that flies the commander's flag, also called the admiral ship or simply the admiral. The title follows the commander rather than the hull, so when an admiral moves to another vessel the flag goes too and that ship becomes the flagship; navies call this shifting the flag.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   The ship regarded as the most important in a group, such as a nation's navy or a company's fleet.

   The ferry line's flagship makes the overnight run between the two largest ports.

   When it was launched, the battleship was hailed as the flagship of the nation's navy.

   Note

   Here the title is honorary: a ferry line or a navy can call its finest ship the flagship though no commander's flag flies from it, unlike the commander's ship. It is a claim about pride and standing rather than command, and it is the bridge from the naval word to the flagship store or product.

4. 4
   head a groupverbtransitive

   To serve as the flagship of a fleet or other group.

   The cruiser flagshipped the task force for most of the exercise.

   The Tokyo store is meant to flagship the brand's push into Asia.

   Similarlead, spearhead, head

Showing meanings only. Show all 4