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outboard

[out-bawrd, -bohrd]
adjective
  1. located on the exterior of a hull or aircraft.
  2. located farther from the center, as of an aircraft: the outboard end of a wing.
  3. (of a motorboat) having an outboard motor.
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adverb
  1. outside or away from the center of a hull, aircraft, machine, etc.: The sail swung outboard.Compare inboard.
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noun
  1. an outboard motor.
  2. a boat equipped with an outboard motor.
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Origin of outboard

First recorded in 1815–25; out- + board
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for outboard

Historical Examples

  • We picked up a shell which went off inside our outboard engine.

    A Yankee Flier Over Berlin

    Al Avery

  • Standing on the end of the spar, he was outboard; the frothing sea was under him.

  • Men began to cut the covers off the boats, and to swing some of them outboard.

  • But even with an outboard, they probably wouldn't have come this far.

  • Doug inspected the catch as the outboard went back to the yacht.

    Creatures of the Abyss

    Murray Leinster

British Dictionary definitions for outboard

outboard

adjective
  1. (of a boat's engine) portable, with its own propeller, and designed to be attached externally to the sternCompare inboard (def. 1)
  2. in a position away from, or further away from, the centre line of a vessel or aircraft, esp outside the hull or fuselage
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adverb
  1. away from the centre line of a vessel or aircraft, esp outside the hull or fuselage
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noun
  1. an outboard motor
  2. a boat fitted with an outboard motor
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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

Word Origin and History for outboard

adj.

"situated on the outside of a ship," 1823, from out + board (n.2). In reference to motors, from 1909.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper