picket boat

American  

noun

1. a vessel used to patrol a harbor.

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Etymology

Origin of picket boat

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

Breasting slowly up the Patapsco River came a Coast Guard picket boat, opened fire with its single small forward gun as cannon from the fort returned rounds of blanks.

From Time Magazine Archive

Boatswain James R. Ingraham, commanding a Coast Guard picket boat, shouted through the gloom of an early Florida morning last week at a fast little craft he had spotted on Biscayne Bay.

From Time Magazine Archive

Yet there I was, as large as life, in a picket boat, with my head still swathed in a bandage, superintending operations, and clearly recognisable with the assistance of a pair of binoculars.

From Under the Ensign of the Rising Sun A Story of the Russo-Japanese War by Lumley, Savile

He made his preparations with great care, and on the night of October 27, which was dark and stormy, he started in his picket boat.

From Dewey and Other Naval Commanders by Ellis, Edward Sylvester

As soon as it was seen that the Aboukir was in danger of sinking all the boats were sent away from the Cressy, and a picket boat was hoisted out without steam up.

From The New York Times Current History of the European War, Vol 1, Issue 4, January 23, 1915 by Various