PT boat

noun

, U.S. Military.

1. a small, fast, lightly armed, unarmored, and highly maneuverable boat used chiefly for torpedoing enemy shipping.

PT boat

noun

1. patrol torpedo boat, the former US term for an MTB Compare MTB

Word History and Origins

Origin of PT boat¹

1940–45; p(atrol) t(orpedo)

Example Sentences

If the federal agency pivots at a battleship’s pace after each change of administration, “the states are kind of like PT boats that can zip in and out.”

From Washington Post

Two Panamanian Navy PT boats pulled up alongside our ship, uncovered their machine guns, and made sure we didn't try to escape.

From Salon

North Vietnamese PT boats fought back and had “mistaken Maddox for a South Vietnamese escort vessel,” according to a report.

From New York Times

His character, Seaman Joseph Haines, one of a crew of misfits aboard a World War II PT boat, was known as Happy.

From New York Times

A yachtsman hires a deep-sea diver to find a jeweled cross in a PT boat in postwar Manila.

From Los Angeles Times