PT boat

American

noun

U.S. Military.

a small, fast, lightly armed, unarmored, and highly maneuverable boat used chiefly for torpedoing enemy shipping.

PT boat British

noun

patrol torpedo boat, the former US term for an MTB Compare MTB

"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

Etymology

Origin of PT boat

1940–45; p(atrol) t(orpedo)

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.

Shattering the stillness of a winter morning, the car’s cold-start cycling sounds like someone is docking a PT boat at the curb.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 18, 2025

Kennedy came from a famous family, of course, but his personal reputation was made during his naval career as the commander of a PT boat in the South Pacific that came under heavy enemy fire.

From Salon • Oct. 30, 2019

He tried swimming into the ocean at night, thinking he might be able to intercept another PT boat on patrol.

From Washington Post • Aug. 23, 2018

He did a brief tour of duty as a lieutenant, junior grade, on a PT boat in the South Pacific as World War II was ending.

From New York Times • Jun. 26, 2014

By pure luck, just before nightfall, he was spotted on the beach and picked up by a PT boat.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

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