canoe
Americannoun
-
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)
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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
-
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
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has been canoeingperfect progressive
Past
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canoedsimple
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had canoedperfect
-
was canoeingprogressive
-
were canoeingprogressive
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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:
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
Littlewood left Nuffield after the Germany incident and, while the World Championships in China in 2024 was her last canoe polo event for Great Britain, she said you "never really retire".
From BBC ● May 31, 2026
The presence of other crocodiles, hippos and rocks in the river, meant it was too dangerous to use a boat or canoe to recover the body, Potgieter told the BBC.
From BBC ● May 5, 2026
Before leaving, the corps stole a sacred canoe from their hosts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
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
Observations show the people use narrow outrigger canoes, live in large communal huts, carry spears, bows and arrows, and wear fibre waistbelts, as well as necklaces and headbands.
From Barron's ● May 18, 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
Next time we’ll probably go with separate canoes.
From Salon ● Jan. 13, 2026
As we wandered along the shallow shore, the mist dissipated, exposing an entire community of canoes being steered by both men and women on the surface of the lake.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
The time they canoed together on the lake in New Mexico.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2024
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
More than a century later the French explorer La Salle canoed down the Mississippi.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
On a recent morning, Britt Eastland was inspecting a trail at his family’s summer camp, anticipating another season of fishing, camping and canoeing just six weeks away.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 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
“They would have canoeing lessons and water parades,” Dodge said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2025
He felt rather nervous, as he had never taken a girl canoeing before.
From "Stuart Little" by E.B. White
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.
