scow

[skou]

noun

1. any of various vessels having a flat-bottomed rectangular hull with sloping ends, built in various sizes with or without means of propulsion, as barges, punts, rowboats, or sailboats.

2. Eastern U.S.,  a barge carrying bulk material in an open hold.

3. an old or clumsy boat; hulk; tub.

verb (used with object)

1. to transport by scow.

scow

/ skaʊ /

noun

1. an unpowered barge used for freight; lighter

2. (esp in the midwestern US) a sailing yacht with a flat bottom, designed to plane

Word History and Origins

Origin of scow¹

1660–70, < Dutch schouw ferryboat

Word History and Origins

Origin of scow¹

C18: via Dutch schouw from Low German schalde, related to Old Saxon skaldan to push (a boat) into the sea

Example Sentences

Processors flew in thousands of workers and contracted with an armada of vessels, ranging from World War II-era scows to Bering Sea crab boats, to ferry the fish back to the plants.

Read more on Seattle Times

Without rail or paved highways to provide access, all finished lumber had to be towed east on scows from a sawmill in equally tiny Utsalady on Camano Island.

Read more on Seattle Times

The GOP is a garbage scow of the corrupt, the seditious and their enablers, yet the short- and medium-term political currents are in its favor.

Read more on Washington Post

Small, shallow-draft scows then took the stones to much bigger schooners or sloops, anchored in deeper water, for the trip up the Potomac.

Read more on Washington Post

If it determines that the scow could pose a threat to structures downstream, like boat tours and power plants, workers may try to remove it from the water, officials said.

Read more on New York Times

Related Words

• barge 
• canoe 
• catamaran 
• craft 
• dinghy 
• gondola 
• raft 
• sailboat 
• schooner 
• ship 
• yacht