bumboat

American

[buhm-boht] / ˈbʌmˌboʊt /

noun

Nautical.

a boat used in peddling provisions and small wares among vessels lying in port or offshore.

bumboat British

/ ˈbʌmˌbəʊt /

noun

any small boat used for ferrying supplies or goods for sale to a ship at anchor or at a mooring

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of bumboat

1665–75; probably partial translation of Dutch bomschuit a small fishing boat, perhaps contraction of bodemschuit ( je ) literally, bottom-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.

Young Potter's bill was tremendous, and Mrs. Bumboat bade him a regretful farewell when she visited us for the last time.

From A Gunner Aboard the "Yankee" by Doubleday, Russell

I remember it best by a circular handed out by “Gumersindo Alejandro, Bumboat Business.”

From The Bonadventure A Random Journal of an Atlantic Holiday by Blunden, Edmund

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023