motorboat

[moh-ter-boht]

noun

1. a boat propelled by an inboard or outboard motor.

verb (used without object)

1. to travel in or operate a motorboat.

   to motorboat from Hyannis to Martha's Vineyard.

motorboat

/ ˈməʊtəˌbəʊt /

noun

1. any boat powered by a motor

Other Word Forms

• motorboater noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of motorboat¹

First recorded in 1900–05; motor + boat

Example Sentences

Adrienne Vaughan, 45, the head of the US branch of Bloomsbury publishing house, died after she was flung from the motorboat in the holiday hotspot in southern Italy in August 2023.

Read more on Barron's

This summer, Carle has continued his research at night, setting out in a motorboat on Mono Lake to catch phalaropes.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"Its scientific, ecological, cultural importance, whether you are an artist, a poet, wild swimmer, motorboat owner, it's just intertwined in the whole kind of social and ecological fabric of the Lake District," he added.

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On a recent morning, Miller steered a motorboat to the islands where gulls nest.

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In essence, it was a big raft, with tall, reinforced sides on 60 empty steel drums for buoyancy, towed by motorboat.

Read more on Salon