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Meaning & use

boat

noun·Everyday

Last updated

UK/bəʊt/
US/boʊt/

Meanings

  1. nouncountable

    A vehicle that floats and carries people or goods across water, usually smaller than a ship.

    Grammar: Use on a boat or by boat: travel by boat.

    Patterns

    • travel by boat
    • on a boat
    • in a boat

    We rented a boat and rowed to the middle of the lake.

    The ferry is a large boat that carries cars.

    They crossed to the island by boat.

  2. nouncountable

    A serving dish shaped somewhat like a small boat, used for sauce or gravy.

    Grammar: Used with the contents: a gravy boat.

    Patterns

    • a boat of something

    She poured hot gravy into the boat.

    Please pass the sauce boat.

    A silver boat of mint sauce sat beside the lamb.

  3. nouncountableinformal

    Any ship, in casual speech, including large passenger vessels.

    Grammar: Casual speech only; careful writers say ship for large vessels.

    Patterns

    • take the boat

    We took the boat from Dover to Calais.

    They spent their honeymoon on a boat in the Caribbean.

    My grandfather worked on the boats for thirty years.

Word forms

pluralboats

Common combinations

row a boat
The children learned to row a boat at camp.
sail a boat
He can sail a boat by himself.
fishing boat
The fishing boat returned at dawn.
miss the boat
If you do not apply now, you may miss the boat.
rock the boat
I did not want to rock the boat before the vote.
in the same boat
Everyone in the class is in the same boat.

Synonyms and how they differ

vessel
Vessel is a more formal, general word for any craft on water, large or small.
ship
Ship is normally used for larger ocean-going vessels, while boat is smaller or for inland waters.
craft
Craft is a technical term for any vehicle on water, and often appears in compounds like small craft.
dinghy
A dinghy is a specific kind of small open boat, so it is narrower than boat.

Word family

boating noun
the activity of traveling or sailing in a boat
boatman noun
a man who rows or runs boats
boatload noun
the number of people or things a boat holds
boathouse noun
a building by water where boats are kept
boatyard noun
a place where boats are built or repaired

Commonly confused: boat or ship?

boat vs ship

A ship is larger and goes to sea; people speak of a rowing boat but a cruise ship.

Practice

We could not drive to the little island, so we went there ___.

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