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Showing results for steamboat. Search instead for steam boat.
Synonyms

steamboat

American  
[steem-boht] / ˈstimˌboʊt /

noun

  • steamboats
    plural
  1. a steam-driven vessel, especially a small one or one used on inland waters.


steamboat British  
/ ˈstiːmˌbəʊt /

noun

  1. a boat powered by a steam engine

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of steamboat

An Americanism dating back to 1775–85; steam + boat

Vocabulary lists containing steamboat

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.

See Examples For:

The steamboat reversed this flow, reshaping the antebellum economy decades before the railroad.

From The Wall Street Journal Apr. 24, 2026

The classic cartoon stars the beloved mascot as the whistling, rascally pilot of a steamboat floating down a river.

From Los Angeles Times Jan. 2, 2024

A grand jury in 2020 initially indicted Boylan on 34 counts of a pre-Civil War statute colloquially known as “seaman’s manslaughter” that was designed to hold steamboat captains and crew responsible for maritime disasters.

From Seattle Times Oct. 24, 2023

Four years after completing her studies, Flora married Edwin Patterson of Ripley, Ohio, and they settled in nearby Cincinnati where he was a steamboat pilot.

From Scientific American Jan. 26, 2023

The ferry sauropod navigated between huge armored warships and around a steamboat before docking alongside an ancient wooden frigate with cannons poking out of either side.

From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older

“Too many people that don’t know Mississippi think of it as a river, steamboats and some old guy strumming a banjo on a broken porch,” says Mr. Carswell.

From The Wall Street Journal Dec. 29, 2025

Bucky would tell you that the hotel was built in 1847 and guests originally traveled by steamboats to enjoy their holiday by the bay.

From Salon May 4, 2023

Treichel describes a wide variety of creations from the children, ranging from harbor ships to steamboats.

From Seattle Times May 1, 2023

The lake, which was once navigated by steamboats, had evaporated into dusty salt flats after the aqueduct was completed in 1913.

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 25, 2023

As a series of steamboats and trains carried Elisha’s body from Louisiana to Pennsylvania, thousands of Americans stood on riverbanks and alongside railroad tracks weeping, hats in hands, hands over hearts.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

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