boat
Americannoun
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boats
plural
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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.
-
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)
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boats,
present (3rd person singular)
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boated,
past participle, past
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boating
present participle
verb (used with object)
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boats,
present (3rd person singular)
-
boated,
past participle, past
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boating
present participle
-
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,
-
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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boatsimple
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boatssimple
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have boatedperfect
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has boatedperfect
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am boatingprogressive
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are boatingprogressive
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is boatingprogressive
-
have been boatingperfect progressive
-
has been boatingperfect progressive
Past
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boatedsimple
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had boatedperfect
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was boatingprogressive
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were boatingprogressive
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had been boatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of boat
First recorded before 900; Middle English boot (noun), Old English bāt; cognate with Old Norse beit
Explanation
A boat is a water craft, a vessel that floats and can be propelled through the water. If you buy a private island, you'll need a boat to get there. A lobster boat travels across ocean bays powered by a small motor, and a sail boat is moved by the wind hitting its sails at a particular angle. A much smaller type of boat is a gravy boat, a boat-shaped serving dish that holds a sauce. Boat is sometimes used as a verb, meaning "to go out in a boat." The Old English root is bat, "ship or vessel," from a Germanic source.
Vocabulary lists containing boat
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.
See Examples For:
Sheikhi, who came to the UK by boat, had denied the charges and told police he had just been "roaming around" as he did not have anyone to socialise with in his hotel.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
The neighborhood has just 34 residences, guarded by a private police force and 24/7 armed boat patrols.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
The 230 people on one boat breaks the previous record from July when 165 people made the crossing on a single vessel.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
They explored the publicly owned island of Sazan, a former military site where locals trek by boat for day-trips.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
She checked her e-mail, even though she knew he didn’t have a computer on his boat.
From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr
The rescue involved two Coast Guard boats, four fire department boats, two police boats and a police helicopter, the US Coast Guard said.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
Most of the people who reach the bloc illegally cross the Mediterranean Sea, with boats landing on the shores of Italy, Greece and Spain.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Labour councillor Josephine Mudzingwa, who represents the badly affected North Shields ward, says volunteers need "money, boats and people on the ground".
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
A new frigate programme for international naval customers or sales of minehunters and unmanned drone boats to the German military are potential options, he said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
Elisha and his remaining crew had spent eighty-four days crossing over ice, until they found open waters and set sail on the smaller whaling boats.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
This summer, ProPublica journalists hiked and boated across Rubkona County, the epicenter of South Sudan’s outbreak and home to the country’s largest refugee camp, to interview families that the U.S. cut off from help.
From Salon ● Dec. 16, 2025
Before co-founding Arc with fellow Northwestern alum Ryan Cook, Lee grew up in the Bay Area and frequently boated with his family.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2025
"Nowadays it has to be boated off. It's just not realistic at all. But it captures everyone's imagination."
From BBC ● May 5, 2025
The film shifts to black and white as the action moves inside a building less adorned than the ones the man has boated past, but grand, even so.
From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2024
The sky scowled down upon us, threatening rain as we boated over to Southwark and joined the throng of bearbaiters and playgoers.
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
They have helped the boating industry navigate the choppy economy better than others that make pricey discretionary goods, such as RVs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Sixty years ago, Peter Watts' entire family was killed in a boating tragedy that shocked the nation.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Wells, 18, did not return with friends from a boating trip to Horn Island on 4 July and his body was found in the water two days later.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
The program is for young people ages 14 to 20 to build leadership qualities and learn boating skills.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2026
Before long we began to spot signs for gas stations and boating supplies, and along the shore there were white mooring buoys.
From "Hole in My Life" by Jack Gantos
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.
