jolly boat
Americannoun
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a light boat carried at the stern of a sailing vessel.
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a small pleasure sailboat for use in sheltered waters.
noun
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a small boat used as a utility tender for a vessel
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a small sailing boat used for pleasure
Etymology
Origin of jolly boat
1720–30; jolly < Danish jolle yawl 1
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.
And so it was a jolly boat in the literal, not the technical sense.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 09, No. 52, February, 1862 by Various
Tom and I were aft, sitting in the jolly boat astern, fitting some of her gear, for we belonged to the boat at that time, although we were afterwards shifted into the cutter.
From Jacob Faithful by Marryat, Frederick
They escaped to the jolly boat, saving nothing but their lives.
From The Life of Francis Marion by Simms, William Gilmore
"I do not see how we can, Lieutenant Morris, unless you are going to take a cruise in the jolly boat."
From Graham's Magazine Vol XXXIII No. 5 November 1848 by Various
I never saw guns better aimed than ours were, except once, and that was when I was attacking a Spanish line-of-battle ship in a jolly boat.
From Marmaduke Merry A Tale of Naval Adventures in Bygone Days by Kingston, William Henry Giles
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
