ship in a bottle

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌʃɪp ɪn ə ˈbɒtl̩/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌʃɪp ɪn ə ˈbɑtəl/, [-ɾəl]
• Rhymes: -ɒtəl
• Hyphenation: ship in a bot‧tle

ship in a bottle (plural ships in bottles or ships in a bottle)

1. An ornament consisting of a model ship inside a glass bottle, usually one with a narrow neck which makes it difficult to see how the ship was put in place.

• impossible bottle

• bottle episode

• message in a bottle

• impossible bottle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “ship in a bottle, n.” under “ship, n.¹”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2021.