飞剪式帆船（Clipper）船型瘦长，长宽比一般大于6:1，船首前端尖锐突出，并且是空心的，航速快而吨位不大。由于采用了空心船首，使船在风浪中便于抬首，提高了它在浪中的航向稳定性、减小了船首的阻力。船体后部逐渐变廋的有倾度的水线平滑过渡到狭窄的圆状船尾。舰船上多采用3-4高桅全装备帆，高桅一般为全船长度的四分之三左右，并且在船之两侧还有外伸帆桁，称翼帆杠，可挂翼帆，使得帆的横向尺寸远远超过船宽，更加大了帆的横向外伸面积。此类舰船是1830年代在美国发展出来的新型快速帆船，但在1870年代后逐步被蒸汽机船所取代。

A clipper was a very fast sailing ship of the middle third of the 19th century. They were fast, yacht like vessels, with three masts and a square rig. They were generally narrow for their length, could carry limited bulk freight, small by later 19th century standards, and had a large total sail area. Clipper ships were mostly constructed in British and American shipyards, though France, Brazil, the Netherlands and other nations also produced some. Clippers sailed all over the world, primarily on the trade routes between the United Kingdom and its colonies in the east, in trans-Atlantic trade, and the New York-to-San Francisco route round Cape Horn during the California Gold Rush. Dutch clippers were built beginning in the 1850s for the tea trade and passenger service to Java.