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
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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:
There was also now "confidence" in the river for canoe sprint athletes, said Thomas Konietzko, president of that sport's governing body, Paddle Worldwide.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
All tickets available for Oklahoma City’s softball and canoe slalom events were sold through for both drops.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
This time, a search-and-rescue team is looking for survivors of a capsized wooden canoe in Jigawa state.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 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
She thinks the experience will be similar to the days when the area was explored using canoes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
If you want to imagine time standing still, start at Burke’s Canoe Trips, which has been renting canoes and kayaks for decades.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
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
They want the authorities to help them buy motorised canoes so they can fish safely further out, where fish are still to be found.
From Barron's ● May 20, 2026
They were now down to just four canoes for twenty-one men.
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
Some people canoed to the Cavendish Baptist Church in Vermont, which had turned into a shelter while volunteers made cookies for firefighters working on rescues.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 10, 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
“We went up to Osceola and canoed down to Marine on St. Croix. Man, did we have a good time. We got engaged after 53 days; that river did its work.”
From Washington Times ● May 3, 2021
That summer he played tennis, swam, fished, and canoed on the Potomac River.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
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
Living near the Boundary Waters satisfied Sims’s penchant for the outdoors, and he loved taking his kids on camping and canoeing trips, Cathie Sims recalled.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 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
"And often, no sooner were you getting used to having him around, you would suddenly be alone... again," he added above a picture of a lone person canoeing in the sea at sunset.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2025
Fifteen miles to the southeast, in the leafy and pleasant lakeside community of Griinau, preparations for the Olympic rowing, canoeing, and kayaking events were also well under way.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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