A country's commercial shipping, as opposed to that involved in military activity.
Example sentencesExamples
For several years Pádraig served as a radio officer on board many ships of the merchant navy.
Frankie thinks his dad doesn't see them because he's away at sea with the merchant navy.
He served in the merchant navy and later the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.
Otley-born Roy left school at 14, joined the merchant navy at 15 and by the time he was 18 had made eight Atlantic crossings.
A musical career proved fruitless, however, and he joined the merchant navy and later, legend has it, became a pirate.
He became a steward in the merchant navy, and was a trade union activist.
In 1918 he joined the merchant navy, then did military service before returning to Paris in 1922.
A graduate with a degree in Marine Engineering can apply for direct recruitment with a merchant navy shipping firm in the engineering department
The happy couple met while they were both in the merchant navy in 1948, but only starting going out together a decade ago.
In her old age the Cutty Sark became a merchant navy training ship.
Ninety per cent of the merchant navy had to be handed over, along with 10 per cent of the cattle and a substantial proportion of the rolling stock of the state railway.
Prime Minister Curtin emphasized Australia's need for an adequate merchant navy and shipbuilding and repair facilities.
My father may have been in the merchant navy, but that doesn't mean there's salt water coursing through my veins.
Their father, who was in the merchant navy, died in May after undergoing a heart operation at the age of 54.
Then he left school, an unqualified bully, and joined the merchant navy.
I was in bad situations during the seven years of the war and seven years in the merchant navy after that.
Vance seemed to have had it relatively easy, helped by a former job in the catering division of the merchant navy.
The law was originally designed to protect the merchant navy from financial ruin during wartime.
He was a scout messenger during the war and then spent 15 years in the merchant navy.