Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
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:

By March, 1850, Scientific American declared: “Where the steamboat goes, there the wilderness disappears.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

The idea, in its early conceptions, included much of what would later make its way to Disneyland — a train, a steamboat and less detailed versions of Main Street and a Frontierland.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2025

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

Previously, travelers had to take a canoe, steamboat, sailboat or train.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 26, 2022

For example, in 1837 the Mandan Indian tribe, with one of the most elaborate cultures in our Great Plains, contracted smallpox from a steamboat traveling up the Missouri River from St. Louis.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

“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

But oh, for the days of steamboats, yearn childhood pals Steve Barker and Jack Russell.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 15, 2023

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

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

The drifting steamboats resembled primordial creatures that the winter chill had lured to the surface.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word


Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Look it up. Learn it forever.

Remember new words for good with VocabTrainer. Expand your vocabulary effortlessly with personalized learning tools that adapt to your goals.

Take me to Vocabulary.com