boat hook


noun
  1. a hook mounted at the end of a pole, used to pull or push boats toward or away from a landing, to pick up a mooring, etc.

Origin of boat hook

1
First recorded in 1605–15

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use boat hook in a sentence

  • Joe tried to grab him with the boathook, but it was useless, and the unhappy poltroon's body was whirled away.

    The Chequers | James Runciman
  • Porter had been standing close by, the boathook in his hands.

    The Girl and The Bill | Bannister Merwin
  • His intention was to use the boathook to bring the Japanese to terms.

    The Girl and The Bill | Bannister Merwin
  • The boat came alongside, 132 and a bowman fastened his boathook at the side of the ship, and held it in place.

  • A brandy-flask comes from somewhere in the steerage, where a mop and a tin pot and a boathook live, and its effect is good.

    Somehow Good | William de Morgan

British Dictionary definitions for boathook

boathook

/ (ˈbəʊtˌhʊk) /


noun
  1. a pole with a hook at one end, used aboard a vessel for fending off other vessels or obstacles or for catching a line or mooring buoy

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