gunboat

[guhn-boht]

noun

a small, armed warship of light draft, used in ports where the water is shallow.

any small ship carrying mounted guns.

Origin of gunboat

First recorded in 1770–80; gun¹ + boat

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

Examples from the Web for gunboats

Historical Examples of gunboats

Besides which they had frigates and a cloud of small armed vessels, gunboats and the like.
The Admiral
Douglas Sladen
Instead of ten vessels, there were only two accompanied by four gunboats, and no troops for landing.
The Egyptian campaigns, 1882 to 1885
Charles Royle
In addition to the land batteries, the gunboats in the river were hurling huge shells at us.
The Southern Soldier Boy
James Carson Elliott
The principle was the same as to gunboats, and the objection of time necessary for building did not exist.
Albert Gallatin
John Austin Stevens
The garrison also attacked the besiegers and received much assistance from French gunboats moored near the shore.
William Pitt and the Great War
John Holland Rose

British Dictionary definitions for gunboats

gunboat

noun

a small shallow-draft vessel carrying mounted guns and used by coastal patrols, etc

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 gunboats