wardroom

Meanings

1. 1nouncountablemilitary

   The room on a warship where the commissioned officers eat meals and relax.

   Grammar: Countable; usually 'the wardroom' on a particular ship.

   Patterns

   • in the wardroom
   • the ship's wardroom

   The captain joined the other officers for dinner in the wardroom.

   A map of the harbor hung on the wardroom wall.

   Rumors spread quickly through the wardroom.

2. 2nounsingularmilitaryfigurative

   The group of officers who share that room, treated as a social unit with its own customs.

   Grammar: Singular with 'the': the wardroom was split over the decision.

   Patterns

   • the wardroom agreed

   The wardroom wanted to hold a farewell party for the captain.

   Morale in the wardroom was high after the long patrol.

   The wardroom elected a new president of the mess.

Word forms

Common combinations

in the wardroom

He waited in the wardroom for orders.

wardroom table

They gathered around the wardroom table.

wardroom mess

The wardroom mess served dinner at seven.

ship's wardroom

The ship's wardroom was small and cramped.

wardroom officers

Wardroom officers traditionally dine together.

Synonyms and how they differ

officers' mess

Officers' mess is the general term for officers' dining quarters on land or sea, while wardroom is specific to ships.

gunroom

Gunroom is the British naval name for the mess of junior officers, so it is lower in rank than the wardroom.

officers' lounge

Officers' lounge is a casual phrase and does not carry the naval tradition of wardroom.

Word family

ward noun

an old word for guarding, related in the original sense

room noun

an enclosed space

mess noun

a place where service members eat together

wardroom noun

officers' quarters on a ship

Commonly confused: wardroom or wardrobe?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “wardroom”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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