dinghy

American  

[ding-gee] / ˈdɪŋ gi /

noun

plural

dinghies

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

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

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

4. an inflatable life raft.

---

dinghy British  

/ ˈdɪŋɪ /

noun

1. Also (esp formerly): dingy.   dingey.  any small boat, powered by sail, oars, or outboard motor

---

verb

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

Etymology

Origin of dinghy

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

Example Sentences

The colonizers, four Chagossians aged 31 to 72, clambered aboard a dinghy and came ashore, waving British and American flags.

From The Wall Street Journal

The dinghy they were travelling on became swamped and capsized in the early hours of 24 November 2021, in what became the deadliest Channel small boat incident on record.

From BBC

A photograph of the aftermath of the operation obtained by the BBC shows a number of men - apparently people-smugglers - on an inflatable dinghy with the police launch alongside.

From BBC

Some 39 people on a rubber dinghy were rescued on Thursday just south of Crete.

From Barron's

Saturday was extremely calm at sea, and the smugglers - adept at studying the weather forecasts - were quick to load large groups of people onto overloaded dinghies.

From BBC

Related Words

• life raft
• lifeboat
• rowboat
• skiff