canoe

American  

[kuh-noo] / kəˈnu /

noun

1. 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.

2. any of various small, primitive light boats.

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verb (used without object)

canoed, canoeing

1. to paddle a canoe.

2. to go in a canoe.

verb (used with object)

canoed, canoeing

1. to transport or carry by canoe.

idioms

1. paddle one's own canoe,

   1. to handle one's own affairs; manage independently.

   2. to mind one's own business.

canoe British  

/ kəˈnuː /

noun

1. a light narrow open boat, propelled by one or more paddles

2. another word for waka

3. of the same tribe

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verb

1. to go in a canoe or transport by canoe

canoe More Idioms  

1. see paddle one's own canoe.

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Other Word Forms

• canoeing noun
• canoeist noun

Etymology

Origin of canoe

1545–55; < French < Spanish canoa < Arawak; replacing canoa < Spanish

Example Sentences

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

Since he got back, he’s never so much as set foot in a canoe.

From Literature

One fine day they bade goodbye to their families and set off upstream in a canoe, promising to return with the rains.

From Literature

As Sobie spoke to the BBC, canoes - steered with paddles or long bamboo poles - moved through the narrow waterways, carrying mattresses and sacks of clothes belonging to the displaced people.

From BBC

“Anyway, these magic shells allowed the fisherman to always return with a canoe full of he‘e, enough octopus for feed his whole village.

From Literature

Related Words

• kayak
• outrigger