canoe
Americannoun
-
canoes
plural
-
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.
-
any of various small, primitive light boats.
verb (used without object)
-
canoes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
canoed,
past participle, past
-
canoeing
present participle
-
to paddle a canoe.
-
to go in a canoe.
verb (used with object)
-
canoes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
canoed,
past participle, past
-
canoeing
present participle
idioms
noun
-
a light narrow open boat, propelled by one or more paddles
-
another word for waka
-
of the same tribe
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
canoesimple
-
canoessimple
-
have canoedperfect
-
has canoedperfect
-
am canoeingprogressive
-
are canoeingprogressive
-
is canoeingprogressive
-
have been canoeingperfect progressive
-
has been canoeingperfect progressive
Past
-
canoedsimple
-
had canoedperfect
-
was canoeingprogressive
-
were canoeingprogressive
-
had been canoeingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing canoe
The Best Starting Words for Wordle
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Native American History - Introductory
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"Encounter"
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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.
See Examples For:
After working with a 17-foot canoe as a centerpiece for the Huntington exhibition, Saar told Curate LA that she felt compelled to return to small-scale pieces.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Former canoe racer David Hearn is accused of pulling at a layer of peeling sealant used in a renovation project that President Trump had personally championed and later claimed was targeted by vandals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Hearn competed three times in the Olympics in the slalom canoe category, and won two world championships for the sport.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
Maine’s camp culture combines rustic canoe trips and campfires with a polished social ecosystem that brings convoys of black SUVs to the state every summer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
We piled into the canoe, me copying what everyone else was doing because no one paid me any attention.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
Then there are the boats or canoes themselves - generally old, weak, rickety wooden vessels that have often been used for years without upgrades or major repairs.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
On the park's website, the authority said visitors must not enter the water at any time, which includes using kayaks, canoes, paddle boards and dinghies.
From BBC ● May 26, 2026
At a command, the pirogue and the canoes drew up together in formation, and three rounds were fired into the air.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
According to the listing, the three-bedroom cottage features nearly 400 feet of private waterways, outdoor activities like kayaks and canoes and an exercise room.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2026
Armed guards were also protecting the food and supplies as well as the canoes.
From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple
Garwood, who has canoed the length of the Mississippi River solo, an odyssey that lasted 84 days, has a deep reverence for his home ground, and the winter that is part of a Minnesotan’s identity.
From New York Times ● Feb. 2, 2024
Bryan Pfeiffer canoed around downtown to check out the damage and was appalled by what he saw.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 11, 2023
The conservationist Aldo Leopold, who canoed through the delta in 1922, described it as “a hundred green lagoons” and said he paddled through waters “of a deep emerald hue.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 31, 2023
One of Douglas Bruce’s favorite memories of his son was when he was about 10, and they canoed the Boundary Waters in northeast Minnesota, near the Canadian border.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 26, 2022
Although Cherrie usually went hunting each morning and had added about a dozen more birds to the collection, he and Roosevelt didn’t see much wildlife as they canoed down the river.
From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple
At Camp Golden Eagle, in Woodruff, Wis., all the usual activities were ours: baseball, archery, canoeing, swimming.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
Hearn, who competed in three Olympic Summer Games in canoeing, told US media he visited the refurbished pool after a long bike ride and noticed a piece of partially detached liner.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
Most of the Games will be held across Los Angeles and southern California, but both canoeing and softball will be held in Oklahoma.
From BBC ● Jan. 14, 2026
Frank’s Paddlesport Livery is the first recreational kayaking, canoeing, and stand-up paddleboard operator to open downtown, thanks to the cleanup effort.
From Salon ● Jan. 13, 2026
In the late summer of 1982, four youths and two men were on a canoeing holiday in Banff National Park when they failed to return to their base camp at the end of the day.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
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.
