Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for steamboat. Search instead for steamboating.
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 extension of canals and steamboat travel to some extent complemented, rather than competed with, the road’s livelihood.

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

So did Jean Sherrard and I. Indirectly, the needs and wants of us and our collective forebears are why this section of the Snoqualmie River hasn’t seen a paddle-driven steamboat in well over a century.

From Seattle Times Jun. 15, 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

My favorite is the picture of a steamboat churning up the Mississippi.

From "Ninth Ward" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

And in an age when many steamboats, cheaply built and poorly maintained, did, in the words of one contemporary, “a wholesale business in human slaughter,” Vanderbilt never lost a ship to fire, explosion or shipwreck.

From The Wall Street Journal May 10, 2026

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

In the mid-1800s, as white settlers moved west, steamboats chugged up the lower Colorado River, paddlewheels turning.

From Los Angeles Times Jan. 26, 2023

Hundreds of clippers, schooners, sloops, barges, ferries, and steamboats raised and lowered their flags to honor the Arctic heroes.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

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