canoe
Americannoun
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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.
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any of various small, primitive light boats.
verb (used without object)
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to paddle a canoe.
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to go in a canoe.
verb (used with object)
idioms
noun
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a light narrow open boat, propelled by one or more paddles
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another word for waka
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of the same tribe
verb
Other Word Forms
- canoeing noun
- canoeist noun
Etymology
Origin of canoe
1545–55; < French < Spanish canoa < Arawak; replacing canoa < Spanish
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.
The Sarkin Ruwan oversaw the competition from his canoe.
From BBC • Feb. 20, 2026
Her husband, Joseph Hougebe, remembers whistling into the night, eagerly waiting to hear a paddle tapping against the hull of a dugout canoe -- coded signals in the darkness.
From Barron's • Feb. 12, 2026
Top bundled her into a rented canoe and began paddling toward the nearest hospital, eight hours away.
From Salon • Dec. 16, 2025
Oklahoma City will host softball and canoe slalom competitions while group stage games for the soccer tournament will also take place in stadiums across the country.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 6, 2025
One less canoe meant divvying up the cargo and redistributing the weight across the remaining canoes.
From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple
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.
