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Synonyms

canoe

American  
[kuh-noo] / kəˈnu /

noun

  1. any of various slender, open boats, tapering to a point at both ends, propelled by paddles or sometimes sails and traditionally formed of light framework covered with bark, skins, or canvas, or formed from a dug-out or burned-out log or logs, and now usually made of aluminum, fiberglass, etc.

  2. any of various small, primitive light boats.


verb (used without object)

canoed, canoeing
  1. to paddle a canoe.

  2. to go in a canoe.

verb (used with object)

canoed, canoeing
  1. to transport or carry by canoe.

idioms

  1. paddle one's own canoe,

    1. to handle one's own affairs; manage independently.

    2. to mind one's own business.

canoe British  
/ kəˈnuː /

noun

  1. a light narrow open boat, propelled by one or more paddles

  2. another word for waka

  3. of the same tribe

"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

verb

  1. to go in a canoe or transport by canoe

"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
canoe More Idioms  

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of canoe

1545–55; < French < Spanish canoa < Arawak; replacing canoa < Spanish

Explanation

A canoe is a narrow boat that you propel and steer by paddling. Most canoes are fairly light, so that one or two people can carry them easily to the water. A canoe is wide enough for one person to sit in front of another, and pointed at both ends. Paddlers sit or kneel in the canoe and push through the water with wide, usually wooden paddles to direct their path through the water. The word canoe comes, by way of the Spanish canoa, from the Haitian language known as Carib or Arawakan, canaoua.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing canoe

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.

“It shook us bad to where it wobbled some knees a little bit,” said Derek Nelson, the manager of the Kona Canoe Club restaurant in the oceanside community of Kona, on the island’s western side.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 9, 2024

Gareth Mahood runs the Ulster Canoe Club, keeping membership costs low in order to increase diversity and inclusivity, and offering kit for free.

From BBC • Dec. 7, 2023

Earlier this month, Jesse Fuentes, owner of Epi's Canoe and Kayak Team, an Eagle Pass outfitter offering lessons and tours, sued claiming the buoys threaten his livelihood and the local ecosystem.

From Salon • Jul. 26, 2023

Northern Minnesota’s Superior National Forest, for example, has seen an marked uptick in wildfires, including a 93,000-acre fire in 2011 in the pristine Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

From Scientific American • Jul. 10, 2023

This is an example of D Minor Pentatonic in the folk song “The Canoe Song.”

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin