boat
a vessel for transport by water, constructed to provide buoyancy by excluding water and shaped to give stability and permit propulsion.
a small ship, generally for specialized use: a fishing boat.
a small vessel carried for use by a large one, as a lifeboat: They lowered the boats for evacuation.
a ship.
a vessel of any size built for navigation on a river or other inland body of water.
a serving dish resembling a boat: a gravy boat;a celery boat.
Ecclesiastical. a container for holding incense before it is placed in the censer.
to go in a boat: We boated down the Thames.
to transport in a boat: They boated us across the bay.
to remove (an oar) from the water and place athwartships.: Compare ship1 (def. 10).
Idioms about boat
in the same boat, in the same circumstances; faced with the same problems: The new recruits were all in the same boat.
miss the boat, Informal.
to fail to take advantage of an opportunity: He missed the boat when he applied too late to get into college.
to miss the point of; fail to understand: I missed the boat on that explanation.
rock the boat. rock2 (def. 17).
Origin of boat
1Other words from boat
- boat·a·ble, adjective
- boatless, adjective
Words that may be confused with boat
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use boat in a sentence
Asked by a reporter if he felt “swift-boated,” Gingrich replied: “I feel Romney-boated.”
Wayne Barrett Runs Down Newt Gingrich’s Swift Boat Connections | Wayne Barrett | January 9, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTTicked about having been “Romney-boated” in Iowa, Gingrich had promised us he was going to go after Mitt—hard—in the coming weeks.
Michelle Cottle: Why I Missed Herman Cain at ABC Debate | Michelle Cottle | January 8, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTHe had been all along the beach and had boated on the thoroughfare clear to the inlet.
Radio Boys Loyalty | Wayne WhippleShe and her little friend boated or strolled through the meadows during the day; he fished.
Lord Ormont and his Aminta, Complete | George MeredithThey boated on the Rio Negro, fished in its swift current, rode long miles over the gray and treeless pampas.
The Terms of Surrender | Louis Tracy
Her set played golf, rode horseback, motored and house-boated, but they had never gone in for uncomfortable trips.
The Call of the Canyon | Zane GreyGlen had swum and fished in it, and boated on it, until he knew its every current and slack-water pool.
Campmates | Kirk Munroe
British Dictionary definitions for boat
/ (bəʊt) /
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
(not in technical use) another word for ship
navy a submarine
a container for gravy, sauce, etc
a small boat-shaped container for incense, used in some Christian churches
in the same boat sharing the same problems
burn one's boats See burn 1 (def. 19)
miss the boat to lose an opportunity
push the boat out British informal to celebrate, esp lavishly and expensively
rock the boat informal to cause a disturbance in the existing situation
(intr) to travel or go in a boat, esp as a form of recreation
(tr) to transport or carry in a boat
Origin of boat
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with boat
see burn one's bridges (boats); in the same boat; miss the boat; rock the boat.
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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