a small sailboat with one or two sails, usually single-masted and easy to maneuver.
From Dutch 'sloep.' Dutch seafarers and traders brought both the boat design and the word to English in the 17th century.
Sloops became pirate ships of choice in the Caribbean because they were fast, nimble enough to outrun larger naval vessels, and didn't require huge crews—making them the speedboats of the Golden Age of Piracy.
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