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View synonyms for scow

scow

[ skou ]

noun

  1. any of various vessels having a flat-bottomed rectangular hull with sloping ends, built in various sizes with or without means of propulsion, as barges, punts, rowboats, or sailboats.
  2. Eastern U.S. a barge carrying bulk material in an open hold.
  3. an old or clumsy boat; hulk; tub.


verb (used with object)

  1. to transport by scow.

scow

/ skaʊ /

noun

  1. an unpowered barge used for freight; lighter
  2. (esp in the midwestern US) a sailing yacht with a flat bottom, designed to plane
“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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of scow1

1660–70, Americanism; < Dutch schouw ferryboat
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Word History and Origins

Origin of scow1

C18: via Dutch schouw from Low German schalde, related to Old Saxon skaldan to push (a boat) into the sea
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Example Sentences

Processors flew in thousands of workers and contracted with an armada of vessels, ranging from World War II-era scows to Bering Sea crab boats, to ferry the fish back to the plants.

Without rail or paved highways to provide access, all finished lumber had to be towed east on scows from a sawmill in equally tiny Utsalady on Camano Island.

The GOP is a garbage scow of the corrupt, the seditious and their enablers, yet the short- and medium-term political currents are in its favor.

Small, shallow-draft scows then took the stones to much bigger schooners or sloops, anchored in deeper water, for the trip up the Potomac.

If it determines that the scow could pose a threat to structures downstream, like boat tours and power plants, workers may try to remove it from the water, officials said.

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