Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

dispatch boat

noun Nautical.
  1. a small, fast boat used for delivering dispatches.
Show More

Origin of dispatch boat

First recorded in 1785–95
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for dispatch boat

Historical Examples

  • The fight that ensued had continued for perhaps half an hour, when the quartermaster reported the dispatch-boat approaching.

    Frank on the Lower Mississippi

    Harry Castlemon

  • Two days afterward the dispatch-boat came alongside, on her way up the river, and the major took passage on her for Cairo.

  • The dispatch-boat had scarcely left the Boxer, when the officer of the deck reported a canoe approaching.

  • As soon as possible I took a dispatch-boat thence to Washington City.

  • When I made his acquaintance he was commanding a Dispatch-boat, carrying sixty men and four cannons.