boat
Americannoun
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a vessel for transport by water, constructed to provide buoyancy by excluding water and shaped to give stability and permit propulsion.
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a small ship, generally for specialized use.
a fishing boat.
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a small vessel carried for use by a large one, as a lifeboat.
They lowered the boats for evacuation.
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a ship.
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a vessel of any size built for navigation on a river or other inland body of water.
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a serving dish resembling a boat.
a gravy boat;
a celery boat.
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Ecclesiastical. a container for holding incense before it is placed in the censer.
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
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to transport in a boat.
They boated us across the bay.
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to remove (an oar) from the water and place athwartships.
idioms
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in the same boat, in the same circumstances; faced with the same problems.
The new recruits were all in the same boat.
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miss the boat,
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to fail to take advantage of an opportunity.
He missed the boat when he applied too late to get into college.
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to miss the point of; fail to understand.
I missed the boat on that explanation.
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rock the boat. rock.
noun
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a small vessel propelled by oars, paddle, sails, or motor for travelling, transporting goods, etc, esp one that can be carried aboard a larger vessel
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(not in technical use) another word for ship
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navy a submarine
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a container for gravy, sauce, etc
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a small boat-shaped container for incense, used in some Christian churches
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sharing the same problems
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See burn 1
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to lose an opportunity
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informal to celebrate, esp lavishly and expensively
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informal to cause a disturbance in the existing situation
verb
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(intr) to travel or go in a boat, esp as a form of recreation
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(tr) to transport or carry in a boat
Other Word Forms
- boatable adjective
- boatless adjective
Etymology
Origin of boat
First recorded before 900; Middle English boot (noun), Old English bāt; cognate with Old Norse beit
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Treating one while ignoring the other is a bit like bailing water out of a boat without fixing the leak."
From Science Daily
The team - led by Christine Close, a sculptor based in France - carved a kraken eating a boat as part of the myths and legends theme set by the competition organisers.
From BBC
The boat's owner alleged the vessel had been stolen by an employee.
From BBC
She, Lizzie, and two female friends boarded a nighttime Erie Canal packet boat.
From Literature
Some 100,625 people claimed asylum in the year to December and about 40% of these arrived by small boats, the figures show.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
