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vaporetto

American  
[vap-uh-ret-oh, vah-paw-ret-taw] / ˌvæp əˈrɛt oʊ, ˌvɑ pɔˈrɛt tɔ /

noun

  • vaporettos,
    plural
  • vaporetti
    plural
  1. a motorboat used as a passenger bus along a canal in Venice, Italy.


vaporetto British  
/ vapoˈrɛtto, ˌveɪpəˈrɛtəʊ /

noun

  1. a steam-powered passenger boat, as used on the canals in Venice

"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 vaporetto

1945–50; < Italian, equivalent to vapor ( e ) steamboat + -etto -et


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:

After a hearty breakfast, we caught the vaporetto to Murano, the outlying island famous for its glassworks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026

Opting to take the long way home, we hopped off the vaporetto at the top end of the Cannaregio neighborhood and wandered on foot past waterside cafes back toward our hotel.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026

After dinner, glide home on a vaporetto to admire romantic Venice at its most enchanting: at night, from the water.

From New York Times ● Jun. 12, 2014

It is claimed that some time before the film started, Phoenix arrived by vaporetto at the nearby Excelsior hotel.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 17, 2010

Prosper leafed through the compartments but there were only a few one thousand lire notes tucked in between crumpled receipts, restaurant bills, and used vaporetto tickets.

From "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke

At least three vaporetti, Venice’s public transportation boats, sank, Italian media reported.

From New York Times ● Nov. 13, 2019

The city's boat-based public transport system has been taken of operation after several boats, known as vaporetti, were damaged.

From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2019

The air smelled like wood smoke and we could hear the low rumble of vaporetti cruising the Grand Canal.

From New York Times ● Jul. 10, 2015

Mosca and Riccio asked all the passengers on the vaporetti.

From "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke

A thousand lights twinkled on the water—the lights of the restaurants along the canal, the lights of the gondolas, of the vaporetti weaving their way along the broad waterway.

From "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke

Bemused travelers took photos from vaporettos, the large public transport boats.

From New York Times ● Sep. 19, 2021

But it sits in the wetlands near Venice, where army brats can stroll around crumbling ancient towns and steer vaporettos up small weed-clogged inlets.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 10, 2020

Civic activist Norman Braman, owner of Miami's largest car dealership, urges smarter traffic light synchronization that can read real-time congestion, along with steps such as Venice-style vaporettos or water buses.

From Reuters ● Nov. 12, 2015

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