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View synonyms for boat

boat

[ boht ]

noun

  1. a vessel for transport by water, constructed to provide buoyancy by excluding water and shaped to give stability and permit propulsion.
  2. a small ship, generally for specialized use:

    a fishing boat.

  3. a small vessel carried for use by a large one, as a lifeboat:

    They lowered the boats for evacuation.

  4. a ship.
  5. a vessel of any size built for navigation on a river or other inland body of water.
  6. a serving dish resembling a boat:

    a gravy boat;

    a celery boat.

  7. Ecclesiastical. a container for holding incense before it is placed in the censer.


verb (used without object)

  1. to go in a boat:

    We boated down the Thames.

verb (used with object)

  1. to transport in a boat:

    They boated us across the bay.

  2. to remove (an oar) from the water and place athwartships. Compare ship 1( def 10 ).

boat

/ bəʊt /

noun

  1. 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
  2. See ship
    (not in technical use) another word for ship
  3. navy a submarine
  4. a container for gravy, sauce, etc
  5. a small boat-shaped container for incense, used in some Christian churches
  6. in the same boat
    in the same boat sharing the same problems
  7. See burn
    burn one's boats
    burn one's boats See burn 1
  8. miss the boat
    miss the boat to lose an opportunity
  9. push the boat out informal.
    push the boat out to celebrate, esp lavishly and expensively
  10. rock the boat informal.
    rock the boat to cause a disturbance in the existing situation


verb

  1. intr to travel or go in a boat, esp as a form of recreation
  2. tr to transport or carry in a boat

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Other Words From

  • boata·ble adjective
  • boatless adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of boat1

First recorded before 900; Middle English boot (noun), Old English bāt; cognate with Old Norse beit

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Word History and Origins

Origin of boat1

Old English bāt ; related to Old Norse beit boat

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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. in the same boat, in the same circumstances; faced with the same problems:

    The new recruits were all in the same boat.

  2. miss the boat, Informal.
    1. to fail to take advantage of an opportunity:

      He missed the boat when he applied too late to get into college.

    2. to miss the point of; fail to understand:

      I missed the boat on that explanation.

  3. rock the boat. rock 2( def 17 ).

More idioms and phrases containing boat

see burn one's bridges (boats) ; in the same boat ; miss the boat ; rock the boat .

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Example Sentences

My captain on the boat, Brazakka, he wanted me to do this Hemingway bit, with the white stubble, and he wanted the hero angle.

The last time there was a raid of this scale was in 2001, when 52 men were arrested on Queen Boat, a floating disco on the Nile.

On Belgika, Botala and his family watched as the white men loaded their families into a large boat and took off for Kisangani.

Translators—many of whom came by boat themselves—work through the crowds with Italian authorities to take down names and details.

“When the smuggler boat is ready, they call you,” Saed says.

Hoosier hurried on board the boat, and followed Dick's instructions to the letter.

But, as the keel of the boats touched bottom, each boat-load dashed into the water and then into the enemy's fire.

The Comet started on her first trip up the Arkansas, being the first steam boat that ascended that river.

That he laughed at their folly, and went himself in the boat, ordering his men to take a strong cable along with them.

Many of them were wounded and the worst of these were put into a picket boat which had just that moment come along.

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tortuous

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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.

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