jolly boat

American  

noun

1. a light boat carried at the stern of a sailing vessel.

2. a small pleasure sailboat for use in sheltered waters.

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jolly boat British  

noun

1. a small boat used as a utility tender for a vessel

2. a small sailing boat used for pleasure

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Etymology

Origin of jolly boat

1720–30; jolly < Danish jolle yawl ¹

Example Sentences

When she was within three miles of the harbour, she lowered the jolly boat, the only one she had left, and it pulled in-shore with a flag of truce hoisted at the bows.

From Peter Simple by Marryat, Frederick

My jolly boat was on deck, and I was informed, all my rigging was disposed of.

From The Pirates Own Book by Ellms, Charles

The boat selected for the voyage was a small affair—something like a modern jolly boat, though of rather greater beam in proportion to its other dimensions; its length was sixteen feet, its breadth nine feet.

From The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 1, April, 1851 by Various

"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

This visit I returned by going on shore among them, taking only a few people with me in my jolly boat, that I might not alarm them by numbers.

From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 12 Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time by Kerr, Robert