Meaning & use
pleasure boat
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Meaning
nouncountable
A boat used for recreation, such as sailing, cruising or sightseeing, rather than for work or transport.
Grammar: Countable: a pleasure boat, many pleasure boats.
Patterns
- on a pleasure boat
- a pleasure boat for hire
Dozens of pleasure boats filled the harbor on the first sunny weekend.
We took a pleasure boat along the river to see the old castles.
The marina has space for a hundred pleasure boats.
Word forms
| plural | pleasure boats |
|---|
Common combinations
- hire a pleasure boat
- You can hire a pleasure boat by the hour at the lake.
- pleasure boat owner
- Each pleasure boat owner must register the vessel.
- sightseeing pleasure boat
- A sightseeing pleasure boat leaves the pier every hour.
- pleasure boat trip
- We enjoyed a pleasure boat trip around the bay.
- moor a pleasure boat
- He moored his pleasure boat at the marina.
Synonyms and how they differ
- yacht
- A yacht is usually larger or more luxurious, while pleasure boat includes small and simple craft.
- cruiser
- A cruiser is a motorboat built for comfortable trips, so it is more specific than pleasure boat.
- leisure craft
- Leisure craft is a formal or official term, used in regulations rather than conversation.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: pleasure boat or pleasure craft?
pleasure boat vs pleasure craft
Pleasure craft is another term for the same thing, more common in legal and official texts.
Practice
The harbor has fishing trawlers for work and many ___ for weekend sailors.
Choose one answer.
Pleasure boats are used for fun. Cargo ships, lifeboats and tugboats all have working or rescue roles.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pleasure boat”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.