motor vessel

British

noun

a ship whose main propulsion system is a diesel or other internal-combustion engine

"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

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.

The Dutch-flagged motor vessel was built in 2019 for polar expedition cruising.

From Barron's • May 5, 2026

General Ryder said that the aid on the vessel, called Sagamore, eventually would be loaded onto another American motor vessel docked at Ashdod, the Roy P. Benavidez.

From New York Times • May 9, 2024

A trawler is a motor vessel that hauls weighted nets behind her.

From Salon • Jun. 11, 2018

Castro’s tiny force sailed from Mexico to Cuba in December 1956 in the Granma, a small and leaky motor vessel.

From The Guardian • Nov. 26, 2016

Coast Guard said it received an alert with a GPS locator and a distress call: "Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is the motor vessel Karen N. We have sunk off of Bloodsworth Island."

From US News • Jun. 2, 2016

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