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.

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

It contains multiple anachronistic details, such as a reference to steamboats and regulations for the care and feeding of livestock being transported through the city.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 8, 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

A fish market was coming to life along the avenue, and the shouts of merchants mixed with the caws of seagulls and rumble of steamboats coming in to port.

From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older