lifeboat

American  

[lahyf-boht] / ˈlaɪfˌboʊt /

noun

1. a double-ended ship's boat, constructed, mounted, and provisioned so as to be readily able to rescue and maintain persons from a sinking vessel.

2. a similarly constructed boat used by shore-based rescue services.

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lifeboat British  

/ ˈlaɪfˌbəʊt /

noun

1. a boat, propelled by oars or a motor, used for rescuing people at sea, escaping from a sinking ship, etc

2. informal a fund set up by the dealers in a market to rescue any member who may become insolvent as a result of a collapse in market prices

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Etymology

Origin of lifeboat

First recorded in 1795–1805; life + boat

Example Sentences

Here are some of our favorite lifeboats during a year of rough seas.

From Los Angeles Times

Santa's key worker was later discovered on Formby beach using thermal binoculars, while a local lifeboat quad bike team stepped in to shepherd him into some sand dunes.

From BBC

Most of the Housatonic’s 155 crewmembers saved themselves by launching lifeboats or by climbing into the ship’s rigging, which towered safely above the harbor’s shallow twenty-seven-foot depth.

From Literature

“There’s not many of us left that did lighthouses or lifeboat stations, guys — mostly guys, almost exclusively — like me.”

From Los Angeles Times

The 1884 death of a cabin boy in a lifeboat was no accident.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• barge
• canoe
• catamaran
• craft
• dinghy
• gondola
• raft
• sailboat
• schooner
• ship
• yacht