PT boat
Americannoun
noun
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
Fortunately, half of the PT boat floated for a while as they hung on to it and made a plan.
From "Dead End in Norvelt" by Jack Gantos
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
