dinghy

[ ding-gee ]

/ ˈdɪŋ gi /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dinghy ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural din·ghies.

any small boat designed as a tender or lifeboat, especially a small ship's boat, rowed, sailed, or driven by a motor.

a boat used by warships, having four single-banked oars and a spritsail.

any of various rowing or sailing boats used in sheltered waters along the Indian coasts to transport passengers and freight.

an inflatable life raft.

RELATED WORDS

skiff, lifeboat, rowboat

Nearby words

Origin of dinghy

1785–95; < Bengali diṅgi, Hindi ḍiṅgī, diminutive of ḍiṅgā boat

Can be confuseddinghy dingy

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for dinghy

First, as companies go, Carnival is more like an aircraft carrier than a dinghy.
Floating Petri Dish Aside, Triumph Won’t Sink Carnival|Daniel Gross|February 15, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Officials said they believed Wood slipped off the yacht when she went on deck to reattach a dinghy that came loose.
L.A. Sheriff Reopens Natalie Wood Drowning Probe, Citing New Information|Christine Pelisek|November 18, 2011|DAILY BEAST
At the same moment the survivor who was clinging to the dinghy let go his hold.
On Land And Sea At The Dardanelles|Thomas Charles Bridges
Needham had, however, several times in the evening, taken a pull in the dinghy among the vessels.
The Three Lieutenants|W.H.G. Kingston

Ten minutes later the dinghy came out between two yachts ahead.
The Queen's Cup|G. A. Henty
Our opponents had four oars and a light skiff against Peters two and a dinghy that is broad as it is long.
The Message|Louis Tracy
After that he took no chances, bathing inside the reefs and going outside in the dinghy only.
The Sun Of Quebec|Joseph A. Altsheler

British Dictionary definitions for dinghy

dinghy

/ (ˈdɪŋɪ) /

noun plural -ghies

any small boat, powered by sail, oars, or outboard motorAlso (esp formerly): dingy, dingey

verb plural -gies, -gying or -gied

(tr) British slang to ignore (a person) or avoid (an event)

Word Origin for dinghy

C19: from Hindi or Bengali dingi a little boat, from dingā boat

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dinghy

dinghy

1810, from Hindi dingi "small boat," perhaps from Sanskrit drona-m "wooden trough," related to dru-s "wood, tree" (see tree (n.)). The spelling with -h- is to indicate a hard -g-.