gravy boat

American

noun

a small dish, often boat-shaped, for serving gravy or sauce.

gravy boat British

noun

a small often boat-shaped vessel for serving gravy or other sauces

"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

Etymology

Origin of gravy boat

First recorded in 1890–95

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.

All you have to do is pour the gravy into a saucepan, warm it up and serve it in a gravy boat.

From Salon • Nov. 26, 2025

You might also realize you don’t have a crucial piece: Gluck once had to call her mom to bring a gravy boat.

From Washington Post • Nov. 9, 2021

In one episode of Antiques Road Trip, auctioneer Philip Serrell likens an olden-times urination device to a gravy boat; this one echoes that tradition.

From Slate • Jul. 17, 2020

Get the Scotch roast sirloin of beef with Yorkshire pudding or the roast breast of chicken with stuffing and bread sauce, and ask for a gravy boat.

From New York Times • May 17, 2018

Soup spoons, gravy boat, butter knives, salad forks and carving platter were additions to my vocabulary and in fact almost represented a new language.

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023