bateau
Americannoun
plural
bateaux-
Nautical. Also
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Chiefly Canadian and Southern U.S.. a small, flat-bottomed rowboat used on rivers.
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a half-decked, sloop-rigged boat used for fishing on Chesapeake Bay; skipjack.
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(in some regions) a scow.
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a pontoon of a floating bridge.
noun
Etymology
Origin of bateau
An Americanism first recorded in 1705–15; from French; Old French batel, equivalent to bat (from Old English bāt boat ) + -el diminutive suffix, from Latin -ellus; -elle
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.
“My mom was like, ‘You were crawling around in a bateau in 1988,’ ” Smith says.
From Washington Post • Mar. 10, 2022
“I was suffering, with this heavy bateau of pressure in my head,” he says.
From New York Times • Feb. 22, 2022
Forte émotion devant le drame des nombreux morts dû au chavirage d’un bateau de migrants dans la Manche.
From The Guardian • Nov. 24, 2021
In the picture, Portman is wearing what looks like a Dior-inspired, cherry-red dress with bateau neckline and sizable buttons, complemented by a triple strand of pearls.
From Time • Dec. 16, 2015
The river was dark and a bateau mouche went by, all bright with lights, going fast and quiet up and out of sight under the bridge.
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
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.
