Meaning & use
tugboat
Last updated
UK/ˈtʌɡbəʊt/
US/ˈtʌɡboʊt/
Meaning
nouncountable
A small, powerful boat built to pull or push larger ships and barges, especially in harbours and rivers.
Grammar: Countable: one tugboat, two tugboats.
Patterns
- a tugboat towing something
- a tugboat pulling something
A tugboat guided the huge tanker into the harbour.
Two tugboats pushed the barge up the river.
The captain radioed for a tugboat after the engine failed.
Word forms
| plural | tugboats |
|---|
Common combinations
- tugboat captain
- The tugboat captain steered carefully between the piers.
- tugboat towing a barge
- We watched a tugboat towing a barge under the bridge.
- call a tugboat
- They had to call a tugboat when the ferry lost power.
- tugboat pulling a ship
- A small tugboat pulling a ship looked almost comical.
- harbor tugboat
- The harbor tugboat worked all night.
Synonyms and how they differ
- tug
- Tug is the common short form and means exactly the same craft as tugboat.
- towboat
- Towboat is mainly American and usually refers to river craft that push barges.
- pilot boat
- A pilot boat carries the pilot who guides a ship into port, but does not pull it.
- workboat
- Workboat is a general term for any working vessel, while tugboat is one specific type.
Word family
Commonly confused: tugboat or towboat?
tugboat vs towboat
A towboat usually pushes barges on rivers, while a tugboat can also pull ocean-going ships.
Practice
What does a tugboat do?
Choose one answer.
A tugboat is a small, strong boat that moves bigger vessels. The other options describe different boats or equipment.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tugboat”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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