boat

[boht]

noun

1. a vessel for transport by water, constructed to provide buoyancy by excluding water and shaped to give stability and permit propulsion.

2. a small ship, generally for specialized use.

   a fishing boat.

3. a small vessel carried for use by a large one, as a lifeboat.

   They lowered the boats for evacuation.

4. a ship.

5. a vessel of any size built for navigation on a river or other inland body of water.

6. a serving dish resembling a boat.

   a gravy boat;

   a celery boat.

7. Ecclesiastical.,  a container for holding incense before it is placed in the censer.

verb (used without object)

1. to go in a boat.

   We boated down the Thames.

verb (used with object)

1. to transport in a boat.

   They boated us across the bay.

2. to remove (an oar) from the water and place athwartships.

boat

/ bəʊt /

noun

1. 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

2. (not in technical use) another word for ship

3. navy a submarine

4. a container for gravy, sauce, etc

5. a small boat-shaped container for incense, used in some Christian churches

6. sharing the same problems

7. See burn 1

8. to lose an opportunity

9. informal,  to celebrate, esp lavishly and expensively

10. informal,  to cause a disturbance in the existing situation

verb

1. (intr) to travel or go in a boat, esp as a form of recreation

2. (tr) to transport or carry in a boat

Other Word Forms

• boatable adjective
• boatless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of boat¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English boot (noun), Old English bāt; cognate with Old Norse beit

Word History and Origins

Origin of boat¹

Old English bāt ; related to Old Norse beit boat

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. in the same boat, in the same circumstances; faced with the same problems.

   The new recruits were all in the same boat.

2. miss the boat,

   1. to fail to take advantage of an opportunity.

      He missed the boat when he applied too late to get into college.

   2. to miss the point of; fail to understand.

      I missed the boat on that explanation.

3. rock the boat. rock.

see burn one's bridges (boats); in the same boat; miss the boat; rock the boat.

Example Sentences

One of those staying there is Amir - not his real name - who four months ago came to the UK across the Channel on a small boat, having fled persecution in Iran.

Read more on BBC

That leaves the Fed’s deliberations comparable to “trying to bring a boat to shore in the pitch black and having the lighthouse go dark,” Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said this week.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Marine crews are working to cool the outside of the ship to make conditions on the boat more tenable for firefighting crews.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

His five children are missing their dad, she says, and the family are still waiting anxiously for answers, not knowing if he was even on the boat hit in the strike.

Read more on BBC

Vaughan had been on the boat with her husband and two children, aged 12 and eight, and had been sunbathing when the motorboat crashed into a sailboat carrying party-goers.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• barge 
• canoe 
• catamaran 
• craft 
• dinghy 
• gondola 
• raft 
• sailboat 
• schooner 
• ship 
• yacht